Walking On Air
by Uh.yeah
Summary: Rob plans a surprise for Jess, involving an old friend. But something goes horribly wrong and it's up to Jess to step in and save the day, before her friends and family get hurt... Actually kind of complete...
1. Chapter One

Ok, this was my entry for The Kissing Rob Contest on MCBC.

So what do you people all think? It's my first fanfic so go easy… Please?

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, the almighty Meg Cabot owns all the characters here. Including the unbelievabubble Rob. Meg, if you ever grow tired of Rob, I'm right here…**

Ok, so, on with the show…

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Jess!" my mom yelled up the stairs.

I put down my flute and sighed. She probably wanted me to go do the washing up or something. Ever since she'd met Rob she seemed to be way into household chores.

I slowly went downstairs and was met with a sight I'd never expected to see. At least, not so soon.

A really uncomfortable looking Rob was standing on my porch trying to talk to my mom and Mike, who were both eyeing him suspiciously. I really wanted to just go and throw my arms round him – who wouldn't? I mean, he looked so hot standing there looking all confused. But I couldn't, my mom would freak and totally not let me date him until I was thirty. Which, come to think of it, would probably suit Rob just fine seeing as how he thinks I'm too young for him.

But, whatever, I digress.

Anyway, instead of throwing myself at the incredibly hot, six foot of solid male standing at the door, I simply cleared my throat.

They all jumped and looked round. And, I was pretty pleased to note, that Rob looked really happy to see me. Or maybe he was just really relieved.

"Hey," I said shyly.

"Mas - Jess," he said hesitatingly - he really was trying, "Um..I was wondering if you wanted to come round and help me with something at home."

Whoa, that was unexpected. And kind of romantic too, in a weird Rob kind of way. I mean, he'd never come right to my house before. Or surprised me.

"Sure," I said eagerly, bounding down the last few steps.

"Hang on, Jess," my mom said, suspiciously, "What time do you expect her to be back, Robert?"

"Uh, don't worry, Mrs Mastriani, I'll have her back before eight."

Eight? We were gonna be out for some time. Maybe he had something planned. Yeah, right, I should be so lucky.

But mom wasn't through. "And what do you drive?"

I felt my whole body tense. Oh God, we were so busted.

"Well, normally," started Rob, carefully, "I drive a motorbike..." I felt, rather than saw, my mom's eyes narrow further, "but today, I have my mom's truck" Rob continued really quickly.

I looked up. The truck? God, he was clever. That's why I love him. Oh, and the way he looks. And that half amused half disgusted smile he sometimes wears. And the way he calls me Jess when he's annoyed and the …..

I was woken up from my daydream by mom still questioning Rob. God, does she think these things up in her spare time or something?

"How long have you been driving for?"

"Nearly three years now, ma'am."

My mom opened her mouth to ask yet another question but I stopped her by grabbing my coat and rushing over to Rob.

"Don't worry, mom, we'll be fine, I promise. And Mike," I said to my brother who'd be watching the whole proceeding in this sickeningly amused way, "Claire called and she didn't sound happy." Ha, he went pale at that.

Then, propelling Rob out through the door, we escaped to the truck.

Inside, I smiled at Rob. "So, why did you bring the truck?"

"Well, your mom would hardly let us out with the Indian, would she?"

See how lucky I was, see? It's no wonder I leaned in to kiss him….

Rob started nervously and looked towards my house, "Not here, Mastriani," he said drawing away.

As I slumped back in my seat he started the engine and drove carefully off.

After a while I was just so happy, sitting there in the truck with Rob – it wasn't the Indian, but it was better than flute practice - I paid no attention to where we were going. Before long we were stopping at Rob's uncle's garage and Rob was getting out.

"What are we doing here?" I asked curiously.

But Rob answered by disappearing into the garage and reappearing with… the Indian.

"The truck needs servicing," explained Rob, looking down.

"You lied to my mom?" I asked, grinning.

"No, not exactly," replied Rob, uncomfortably, "I did pick you up with the truck."

"You _lied_ to my _mom_, Rob," I repeated, still smiling, drawing closer.

Rob didn't seem to notice that I was teasing and he carried on talking really fast, "It's just that the truck really needs to be looked at so I thought that if I just picked you up in it I could take a look and then…"

"Rob," I said, so close my lips almost brushed his cheek, "Shut up."

And then, completely unlike myself, I closed the gap and kissed him.

Rob held back a bit a first but then he seemed to give up and wrapping his arms around me, he surrendered. I smiled into the kiss and Rob deepened it even further. I linked my hands at the back of his neck and I was aware of him pulling me even closer.

I was so happy. This was all I wanted, to be with Rob and for him to be with me. I didn't even care about all the people who could be working at the garage and watching us. I sighed dreamily into Rob's lips and Rob, the guy who always held back, slipped his tongue into my mouth.

And then it was even better. I melted. I completely melted like... anything that melts. I could have stood there forever with Rob, he tongue chasing mine, close together.

But then some stupid guy cleared his throat and we had to break apart.

Me, blushing slightly and Rob clearly trying to hide one of his half disgusted, half amused smiles, wandered over to his bike.

He handed me his spare helmet and climbed on. "Where are we going?" I asked, stuffing the helmet on my head.

"Wait and see," Rob replied mysteriously.

I got on and wrapped my arms around his waist. And as he drove off down the road, I was quite possibly the happiest girl in the world. I wasn't lying to my parents - well, not really - Rob liked me and wasn't afraid to admit it, and we were riding along on the back of the Indian. What more could a girl want?


	2. Chapter Two

Hey everybody. I'm just going to take this opportunity to warn you all: This is a very boring and pointless story. Nothing much happens. Sorry.

Ok, thanks to everyone who's reviewed. You're all fantastic and wonderful. I love reviews. Especially when they're nice. Well, to be completely honest, only when they're nice. But if someone wants to complain about anything, go ahead. I'm not afraid of criticism...

Next time, I'll do separate mentions to everyone who's reviewed but I don't actually have time at the moment. Which I'm sure you're all very disappointed about…

Anyway, let's get on with this.

**Disclaimer: I don't own this stuff. I own this particular story idea but characters, like the unbelievably hot ROB, are not mine at all. Which sucks. Instead Meg Cabot owns him (and the others). Which is pretty selfish, if you ask me, seeing as how she's ****married.**

Sorry, I'll shut up now…. Well I won't, but I'll let the story start….

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When we got to his house, Rob stopped the engine and just kind of sat there on the front of the bike.

At first I wondered what he was doing and then I realized: he was waiting for me to remove my arms from around his waist.

Oh, good move Jess, great way to make a guy forget you're two years younger than him.

When I had unlinked my arms, looking down sheepishly, Rob slowly climbed off the bike. Thankfully he didn't say anything.

Instead he waited for me to organise my stuff and then putting his arm around me, he walked me to the door. I leaned into him happily, probably looking like some kind of complete loser, but I don't care.

At the door he paused, and whispered into my hair, "Do you mind saying hi to my mom?"

I smiled up at him, partly because of how sweet he was being and partly to reassure him of how much I liked his mom. "Of course I don't mind, Rob. I love your mom."

He smiled down at me and leaned his head down slightly as if he was going to kiss me…but then Mrs Wilkins opened the door and we had to pull apart.

She ushered us inside and into their warm kitchen. She bustled around offering us stuff like cups of coffee.

"Hello, Jess" she smiled, fiddling around with some mugs, "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks," I said, sitting down at the table with Rob.

"Mom," Rob said, "Jess is here to help me that job I told you about,"

I sat up a bit. Job? What job? It was like they were talking in code. Or talking about a job of some sorts. Hmmmm…. I would so make a good detective. Not.

"Well, that's very kind of you Jess," said Mrs Wilkins, setting down the tea stuff, "He'll need some company."

Company? Yep, I can definitely provide Rob with company. No problem. But somehow, I didn't think she meant the same kind of company I did.

"Right, are you two ok together? I just need to go set some stuff up," Rob asked, getting up to leave.

"Sure," replied Rob's mom, "We're fine."

I nodded happily just to let him know that it really was fine. He left the room and I couldn't help smiling as I watched him, knowing that he was really my boyfriend. I think that kissing at the garage must prove it.

"So, Mrs Wilkins," I began, "How's Gary?" I didn't care that she was my boyfriend's mom; it felt fine asking her stuff like this. Probably better while Rob was out the room although he did look pretty cute when he scowled…

Mrs Wilkins flushed slightly and looked up really happily.

"Oh, he's fine, thank you. He was asking about you the other day and how you were. You know, we all call you 'Rob's special girl.'" She paused, "Sorry, am I embarrassing you?"

I shook my head and was just figuring out how I could ask exactly what Rob thought of them calling me 'his special girl' when Rob himself appeared in the doorway.

He had his jacket on and was carrying a medium sized box.

"Ready to go, Mastriani?"

I nodded excitedly – well this was all a mystery to me - and after thanking Mrs Wilkins politely – she could be my Mother in law someday – I ran out to join Rob. He was fixing the box in the storage compartment.

"Rob," I said, putting the spare helmet on, "Where are we going?"

"I said wait and see, Mastriani," Rob answered, playfully.

Rob, playful? This day was getting even weirder.

"Rob," I said, trying to sound mature and reproachful but slightly sexy at the same time. It was kind of hard to pull off, I must admit.

Rob ignored me and simply waited for me to get on the bike.

You know, flying down the highway on the back of my boyfriend's bike is my idea of heaven.

Going just as fast as I like, turning the corners with him, the wind in my face and not even knowing where the hell we're going.

I like that, maybe not so much the not-knowing-exactly-where-we're-going part, but it's still good. Great.

We rode for ages. On the long straight bits of road I nestled into Rob's back and rested my head on his shoulder. A great big stupid grin on my face. Thankfully Rob couldn't see.

After a little longer he stopped at this really sweet picnic place. I climbed off and shook my very short hair out from under the helmet, imagining I looked like a Charlie's Angel or something. Rob just stood there, grinning at me.

"What?" I demanded hotly, a little embarrassed.

"Nothing." He replied, still standing there grinning.

"Well, Mr. Wilkins," I continued moodily, "Why do I have the impression that you're laughing at me?"

"I would never laugh at you, Mastriani. I'd be too afraid of getting my nose broken."

Well, that just made me even more angry.

"Shut up, Rob. Can you even try and pretend that you like me for one moment. You were so sweet this morning."

Rob shook his head a little at that, "Wat do you mean, 'pretend' that I like you?"

"Well," I began, my heart beating a little faster than normal, "You know, you're like….teasing me and not telling me where we're going."

Rob just looked at me in disbelief.

"Mastriani, you moron, why do you think I've had so much trouble focusing on the road today?"

I looked up at him, a little confused, and got a bit lost in his beautiful fog coloured eyes which were staring down at me in an amused way.

"Mastriani," he said tiredly, taking my hand and leading me over to a picnic table, "Of course I like you."

I blinked, it wasn't the big L word but it was good enough for now.

Once I sat down I realised that Rob had placed a thing of food on the table.

"You made sandwiches?" I asked, incredulously.

"So? Do you like peanut butter?"

"Um, sure." I was still a little confused. Rob was scarily domesticated.

We sat there eating our sandwiches, me just staring happily at the guy opposite me. He was two years older, he was my boyfriend, he'd met my mom and he liked me. Pretty good going for a previously boyfriendless psychic freak.

"So." I began, "Are you gonna tell me why we're here?"

"Nope."

"Ro-ob," I wheedled looking plaintively up at him.

"I told you Mastriani, I'm not telling. Yet. And this is just a quick lunch stop, by the way."

"Please tell me."

He sighed and shook his head, giving me a half disgusted, half amused look.

That look just encouraged me even more. I leaned across and kissed him full on the mouth.

He kissed me back for a while and to tell you the truth, it was a pretty amazing kiss.

So amazing that when he pulled away it took me a while to remember exactly why I'd kissed him in the first place, my brain was reeling so much.

"Tell me now?"

"Nope. You taste like peanut butter." He carried on eating his sandwich.

"So do you," I retorted quickly, "Please tell me."

"Come on, if we leave now you'll find out sooner."

He threw the rubbish carefully away and walked over to the bike.

I walked over to him sullenly and stood really close, looking directly up at him.

"Will it be fun?"

Instead of answering, he kissed me softly.

When he pulled away he handed me the spare helmet. Wordlessly, I put it on and climbed on behind him.

It may have been underhand, but he certainly knew how to shut me up.

After another long stint on the road, I suddenly realised that we were in a town.

And that Rob was turning into someone's driveway…and stopping.

He climbed off and stood looking very sexy, running his hands through his hot hair.

However, sadly, I couldn't be distracted by Rob's hotness. No matter how tempting. I was looking curiously up at the tall building in front of me. It looked pretty rundown and there was paint peeling off the faded brick walls.

"Where are we?" I asked Rob, who was rummaging around in the bike's compartment thing.

"Huh? Oh, look," he pointed to a faded sign at the entrance I hadn't noticed. "Mich's Marvelos Moocyles?" I frowned a little, before I noticed the missing letteres, "Oh wait, I get it. Well," I continued in a bright voice, "this place looks…um…fun. So, what are we here for?"

"Hold this," answered Rob and handed me a relatively small box.

"Hey!" I yelled at Rob's disappearing back. The box wasn't heavy or anything, I was just pissed, you know? I'd just ridden on his bike for hours without knowing where we were going and now he was acting all gruff and unfriendly.

"Mastriani!" he yelled from the darkened and frankly, pretty scary looking, doorway, "Come on!" Jesus, talk about bossy. Who made him in charge, anyway?

"Fine," I muttered grumpily, trailing after him, "but don't you think that by acting all weird and driving me out miles on mysterious 'jobs' is gonna convince me any more about this supposed 'age difference'. 'Cos to be honest, Mr Wilkins, there isn't one. Two years? That's nothing. And more importantly, even if you're gonna treat me like a total jerk, I'm still just gonna wind up lo….."

I trailed off uncertainly when I joined Rob and saw the look on his face. It was of utter confusion.

"Mastriani," he said, shaking his head, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Nothing," I replied. Crap, I could actually feel myself blushing.

But Rob didn't say anything more. I mean, he continued looking at me like I was crazy, but he didn't talk about it. Instead he rang the doorbell.

After a while this guy opened the door. He was fat, old and kind of ugly. There was layer of stubble on his face looking like it was struggling to form a beard. I guessed he must be Mitch.

He blinked in the daylight, as if he wasn't used to opening the door. Or even getting out of bed, judging by the state of his hair.

"Whaddaya want?" he demanded, leaning on the doorway and exposing a sweaty armpit. Charming.

"I'm here to deliver the parts you wanted," Rob answered bravely, though I could tell he was totally grossed out.

"Parts?" asked Mitch, unintelligently. It looked like he badly wanted to scratch his head.

"Yeah, for bikes. I'm delivering them from Greg. (A/N I actually can't remember Rob's garage place so I made that up. My friend's borrowed my books and I can't look anything up. Sorry for errors!) Yeah, so here they are…"

Rob held out the box and a brightened Mitch, who looked like he was finally remembering, took them.

"I pay now?" he asked, clutching the box.

"Yeah." Rob then proceeded to tell him the price and I looked away as Mitch produced a load of notes from the elasticised waist of his trousers. I kid you not.

Finally, Rob was done and Mitch closed the door firmly in our faces.

"Well, he was nice," I commented, sarkily, as I climbed onto the Indian behind him.

"He's an old friend. Greg has to supply him."

"So that's why we came all the way out here?" I asked, incredulously, "To deliver some stuff to Mitch and his Marvelos Moocyles?"

"Sorry, Mastriani," apologised Rob, and as I couldn't see his face, I couldn't tell if he was being serious, "I'll buy you lunch."

Then he roared off down the road and soon we were in the towns' city centre.

Rob pulled up the bike outside this grubby old motel and got off. I looked around for someplace to eat but there was nowhere except a run down seven eleven and a hardware store.

Rob led me purposefully into the doorway of the motel. I wrinkled my nose in disgust at the smell coming from inside the door.

"Rob," I said, uncertainly, "I'm not sure you can even buy lunch in a Motel."

He just smiled a half amused, half disgusted smile at me and pushed me gently in through the door….

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What do you think? Hit the review button and tell me. Please. 


	3. Chapter Three

This chapter is pretty short. But I just had to end it where I did. I had to. I originally had more, but I couldn't bring myself to carry on. What can I say? I've always wanted to land a cliff hanger. I'm sorry, but just indulge me this once. Please?

Ok and now _mentions_. Please form an orderly queue and no shoving at the back. I know you're probably all very overexcited…. (I'll disguise the shortness of the chapter by many acknowledgements. Mwahahaha)

**RidgelandHater**: I'm hoping the laughter is a positive sign…. And why do you hate Ridgeland? I remember walking 18km up and down over ridgelands. Oh, that was a fun day… the pain… the _pain._

**Acidic-Lover: **You cheeky monkey. Let's just wait and see what happens. I may, if I'm feeling creative, have a surprise up my sleeve…. But thanks for liking it!

**Flonshoe: **Haha. I try my best to disguise my Britishness. Tell me if you have any complaints… But here you go, _more_…

**Moovalous3: **Hola amiga! Thanks for reviewing this and I'm glad you (and Lauren) can bear to read this a second time around. That is a good sign. Anyway, here you go, more like you asked for. More Rob. Especially for you. And me. Ahem.

**Sparklingt87: **Thanks for the review! I love getting reviews. And I'm glad you're finding it interesting. But, you need to wait just one chapter longer to find out what is really going on… Ohhh, mysterious. Well not really, but I'm trying.

**Kati: **You want to know something? I love Rob/Jess fluff too. That's why I'm writing this story. Sad, I know. But hey, if other people like it, I'm justified. : )

**Niki: **Here is more. Right here. Short, I know, but there'll be even more coming sooner because it's short. You could even skip this mention and go straight onto the story… Oops, too late.

**PrudencePiperHalliwell: **Yep, what is Rob up to? I may know. Well, I hope I know seeing as how I'm writing the damn thing…

**Wuteva: **Thanks for liking my story. I get a stupid grin on my face when I get a nice review. And here you go, an update, especially for all the lovely reviewers like yourself.

**Courtney-Lee: **Of course I'm continuing. See? Just scroll down and you'll find it. Thanks for reviewing!

**Disclaimer: I know you've heard it all before. Yep, this is owned by _Meg Cabot_. A proper writer. Who's created characters like _Rob_. She deserves the Nobel Prize for that creation. **

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Once inside, Rob started talking to the receptionist. I just stared around me in complete horror, my mouth hanging open.

Ok, I don't mean to be fussy, and in general I can accept most stuff that other 'girly girls' – say Heather Montrose – couldn't. But, come on. This motel was disgusting.

The yellowing wallpaper was peeling off the walls and the old paste on the back was a kind of greying smear. The curtains looked damp and musty while the windows behind them were so dirty you almost couldn't see out. There were faded messages, obviously written in mist at some time like, _"Chris was here"_ and _"Sophie is a slut"_. How imaginative.

There were some sofas and stuff littered around but no way was I going to sit on them. There were some pretty suspicious looking stains. And then there was the smell. Something which made you crinkle up your nose and wonder what the hell it was – without actually wanting to know.

So I just stood there in a kind of dumb shock while Rob was muttering with the receptionist. She matched the décor very well. Her dyed red, greasy hair clung to her face while the mousy brown roots provided a nice contrast.

After a while, Rob spun around and walked over to the lift. "Mastriani, come on."

He pressed the button – more than I would have dared to do – and the door pinged ominously open.

"Um, Rob," I began, nervously as we walked in, "Do they serve food upstairs here?"

"Don't worry, Mastriani, I've got it covered. You ok?"

Then I brightened my face – disgusting as the place was, Rob was still the man I loved and I had to support him – "Yeah, sounds good."

Rob just stared at me for a while and then gently put his arm round me. I leaned into his familiar – although, not as familiar as I would have liked - body and suddenly felt mush calmer. So what if I was in a crappy motel? At least I was with Rob. And this is Rob we are talking about; he would never take me anywhere I didn't want to go.

Then suddenly it hit me: _Rob Wilkins is taking me to the second floor of a motel._

You know what is generally on the second floor of motels? Bedrooms, that's what.

Why was Rob taking me up to a bedroom? No way was he going to try…. anything. I mean, he can't. He's on probation; he can't get caught doing… stuff with a minor.

But _maybe that's why he taken you out to this crummy motel_, an annoying voice muttered in my head, _do you even know what town you're in?_

Oh my God, what if he did expect something? What was I supposed to do? I mean, I love Rob and I'm happy - well, way more than just _happy_ - when we make out, but to take things further? I'm not sure.

But this can't be happening. Rob is the one who wouldn't even agree to going out with me until a few months ago.

I tensed and Rob seemed to notice. He drew me in even closer and whispered in my ear, "Is everything ok, Mastriani?"

"Oh, yes!" I replied brightly.

Too brightly. Rob narrowed his eyes at me but at that moment the doors opened and I cautiously followed him out. I wouldn't be surprised if the cable thing snapped in a place like that.

My heart beating so hard I was sure Rob would notice, I followed him down the dim and urine smelling corridor.

"Rob," I whispered – why the hell was I whispering? – "We're eating _here_?"

We had reached the end of the corridor and instead of answering, he simply reached for my hand.

Then he knocked on the door on the right hand side of the corridor.

"It's Rob and Jess," he called softly.

And then the door slowly creaked open…

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Ok, here's the thing: I love reviews. They make me happy. Please make me happy…? Cruelly short I know. But if you review I'll update really fast ... 


	4. Chapter Four

Here we go. After the cliff-hanger outrage, I'm updating. (And probably with an anticlimax.) And to make up for the shortness of the last chapter I've made this one really long. Well, it's really long in my opinion. Other people might consider this one short as well.

Anyway, thanks for all the reviews. Here we go; I'll mention each reviewer separately. I haven't had that many for the last chapter, but I forgive you all.

**PrudencePiperHalliwell: **Please don't hate me. I'm updating, see? I hope you enjoy this chapter too…

**Flonshoe: **Yep, here they come! Thanks for reviewing though and reading this story for a second time!

**Heidigirl: **Aw, man. I go back to school on Wednesday as well. So the story will probably start slowing down then. So here you go, an update to relieve you from the cliff-hanger.

**Sparklingt87: **I'm scared that I might be giving all you people a major anticlimax after my cliff-hanger. I'm very sorry. But here you go, an update!

**Nikki: **It stopped because I wanted to test out a cliff-hanger. And see what it was like. I'm really sorry. But don't worry, because here is another update! A much longer one.

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own this. Meg Cabot does. And I'm very upset that she owns the amazing, incredible, awesome, fantastic (etc. etc.) Rob Wilkins. It's very unfair, but if she ever gets bored of him, I WILL HAVE HIM!!!**

I dedicate this update to all those who are going back - or are already back at - the hell that is _school_. May Rob help you forget for a while...

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My initial reaction was relief. I mean, I had been thinking Rob wanted sex. Instead there were other people in the room. People I knew. 

"Oh my God!" I shrieked happily, "Oh my God! Sean!"

Then I ran over to the bed and hugged him so hard I swear the poor guy couldn't breathe.

Once I'd finally released him, he got his breath back and went, "It's great to see you too." And then this alarmingly insane grin took over his face.

But I just sat there staring at him and his mother in horror, my previous joy forgotten.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed, angrily, "What the hell are you doing? What if…" Then I leapt up and stared desperately out the window. My heart calmed a little as there was no sign of the white van. Or anything, for that matter. There was just Rob's Indian, reassuringly alone.

"Mastriani," Rob said, coming up behind me, "Relax. We've been planning this for a while. No way was I gonna let any feds find out."

I just blinked up at him. He'd been planning this?

"Do any of you guys realise how dangerous this is?"

"Jess," said Sean nervously, "Please, it's fine. Honestly. Mom's friends needed us to come down for a while to collect some stuff and afterwards we're going straight back home. No one will ever know. Here, come eat."

"Haven't you ever heard of mail?"

This time Sean's mom spoke up. "Really, Jess, it's fine," she said quietly, "And it's too complicated for mailing. Now please, come and eat. We got food especially."

I stared at Rob and the way he just seemed to be accepting it calmed me. If Rob, the guy who was always so paranoid about stuff – it'd taken him forever to admit we should go out – could deal with this, then I guess I could go along with it too. Rob had taken care of it. I wasn't happy but I could still carry on.

"It's so great to see you again!" I said cheerfully going over to the bed, and sitting down in front of the food, "So what have you been doing?"

Silently, Rob came over and sat be me. He briefly touched my hand as if to tell me it really was ok. I smiled up at him half heartedly and listened to Sean's happy chatter. This whole thing was all too weird for me.

We talked for ages. Sitting on a damp and stained bed in some crummy motel, I caught up with Sean and everything that had been happening to him since…… ages ago.

He was happy in his new home in Florida. And, I was even more relieved to hear, Sean actually had a girlfriend. I admit, that when he told us completely straight faced, I was struggling not to laugh. Bless him. But at least it meant that he would no longer be jealous of Rob and me or whatever. Remembering about Sean 'liking' me made me think about the time when Rob had told me about it.

Oh, and said that he thought I was 'one dope girl'.

Which is probably one of the best things that Rob has ever said. Apart from the whole liking me too much part. But he hadn't said anything like it since…

I studied him sitting next to me, chatting happily to Sean and his mom – who would have thought Rob had a way with kids? His dark hair made a strong contrast with his beautiful, fog coloured eyes and just from looking at him, I could feel myself drifting away into Rob dream world.

Sad, I know.

But, come one. I am so lucky. Before Rob, I had never had a boyfriend and now here I was, in some far away town with oh, I don't know, perhaps the _hottest guy ever_. And I have to admit, sometimes I wonder why he's with me. He could have anyone. Even people like Heather Montrose or someone. Except I'm sure Rob would never like one of them. But then, he could go for some big breasted, blonde biker chick you find at... Chick's. Instead, he was with Jess Mastriani, social reject, girl-who-beats-up-guys-who-are-bigger-than-her and psychic freak. Is it any wonder that sometimes I worry?

But then, as I was thinking all that crap, Rob turned and caught me staring at him. And he gave me a smile and his eyes were so… well, full of something – I'd like to think it was love – that I completely forgot all my doubts. And even though he smiled at me for like, five seconds, it was long enough. I was certainly sure that Rob at least _liked_ me. And I obviously liked him, if the way I was blushing was any indication.

Yeah, I know, blushing. Which is so not fair. I mean, he's my boyfriend for crying at loud. I shouldn't start blushing every time he even smiles at me. And besides, I'm Jess Mastriani. I could take on guys twice his size and win. But still, I'm blushing. Weird. I guess they call it love.

After I thought that, I kind of looked quickly away from Rob and his blood-to-cheek inducing smiles. Since when had I started thinking all these deep thoughts?

And as I reluctantly pulled my gaze from Rob I suddenly remembered who else was in the room with us. And how much danger they were in.

Stupid Jess, very stupid. While I'd been getting all philosophical about my boyfriend, two people I cared about very much were at risk. I'd been worrying about whether my boyfriend liked me when I should have been worrying about whether they were going to be safe.

"So," I started suddenly, sitting up straight, "Are you gonna tell me why, exactly, you're here?"

Everyone kind of blinked at me for a couple of minutes, a little surprised that I was actually talking again.

Then Sean's mom started.

"Well, we needed to pick something up."

"Something so big you couldn't mail it or whatever?"

"Yeah, you see… it's kind of a person…"

"A person?" I repeated, intelligently. Well what was I supposed to think? "Who? Can't they just… I don't know, meet you in Florida? Not that I'm not happy to see you, cos I totally am, but I'm worried."

"I know you are, Jess. And no, she can't just come on her own. She's my best friend, our old next door neighbour. Her husband's real possessive and abusive and she doesn't think she could make it alone."

I just sat there staring at them. I could not see how this could possibly work. For a start, Sean and his mom were missing people. And now they wanted to make someone else a missing person too. And that person was their old _nextdoor neighbour_? Yeah, sure, that'll be easy.

"So, you were just thinking you'd come along, kidnap your friend and then scoot on back to Florida? I'm pretty sure that someone would recognise you, you know. And do you even have enough money to take you all back?"

"Oh, no, we've got it under control. We won't go near their actual house."

"I'm really sorry, but somehow, even the best disguise is not gonna completely hide a women and a boy, exactly the same ages and heights as two missing people."

"No," and then Sean's mom blushed, "I've got someone to help us. I .. met someone in Florida. He wants to help."

"Oh. You're just gonna drag some random guy in to help you save your friend? Whoa, he must really like you."

And then after I said that, I stopped. And seriously blushed.

Cos that's exactly what I'd been doing to Rob. I'd been roping him in to help my friends. And then I thought about it, his whole helping-me-out-the-entire-time thing was a pretty clear indication that he liked me.

"So…." I continued quickly, staring down at the gross bed cover, my cheeks probably beetroot, "Um, where is he now?"

"Oh, he's out there getting Maria now."

"He's getting her right now?"

"Uh huh. We've got it all completely planned. She's gonna meet him at the supermarket around lunch time then they're gonna high tail it here, then we're all gonna race to the nearest airport and be gone. Kevin's funding it all. He's wonderful."

"Can I ask," I began, cautiously, "Why he's doing all this?"

"Originally, it was going to be me who went and got her. But when he found out where I was going and what I intended to do, he insisted on coming. He said he didn't want me getting hurt. And," she continued, quietly, "he said he loved me."

I glanced quickly at Sean to see how he was taking his mom declaring love for another guy and was pleased to see that the kid looked genuinely happy for her.

"That's so great!" I cried, hugging her. "I'm so happy for you. What time do you think he'll be back?"

"I don't know, about seven?"

I looked anxiously at Rob. "We're not gonna be here then, are we?"

"No. Not if we're gonna get you back on time. Besides, we don't want to get anyone suspicious if anything goes wrong. But don't worry, their plan's pretty sound and I've got a few friends around here, just in case."

Suddenly, something occurred to me. "What has Rob got to do with all this?"

"It was Sean's idea. He didn't want to call you, because it'd worry you. And your phones are probably tapped, knowing the feds. So he said we should call Rob. He's been brilliant about the whole thing."

I looked proudly at Rob. "I can't believe you didn't tell me anything about it."

"Well," he said, seriously, "We couldn't have anyone finding out."

"Are you saying, Rob Wilkins, that I can't be trusted to keep a secret?"

"No." he said quickly, looking up at me and into my eyes, "It's just that, you know, you're surrounded by feds most of the time. And you had enough to worry about, anyway."

"Well," I said, beaming at Sean and his mom, "I really am happy to see you guys."

"You've already said that," responded Sean.

Much later, when we'd been there for hours, Rob suddenly stood up and went mysteriously, "Just gonna go get something."

Then he just left the room. I am not kidding. He just got up and left, without any explanation whatsoever.

I was just sitting there, staring at the door which he'd closed behind him when I heard this small voice from the far side of the bed going, "Is Rob your boyfriend now, Jess?"

I turned and saw Sean staring at me with a very blank expression on his face.

"Yeah," I replied, trying not to sound too happy, which was pretty hard considering every time I say Rob and I are officially going out I want to start tap dancing on a table or something. And I can't even tap dance, that's how happy I get, "Yeah, he is. But how's your girlfriend, Sean?"

"Oh," he replied with a kind of strained cheerfulness, "She's great! She's so cool. And…fun and great!"

"That's good," I answered, eyeing him strangely, "What's her name?"

"Her name? Right. It's… Je – Jennifer."

When he said this I looked subtly at his mom. She gave me a sad, what-can-you-do? smile. Crap. Sean did still like me. I guess saving a kid's life can really make a good impression.

"Well, Sean," I went, kindly, "I'm sure you and Jennifer will be really good together. I hope it works out."

"Oh, it will," Sean went confidently, "She's cool."

Then, Rob returned. Holding the box he'd made me carry to his bike, back at his house.

Sean jumped up, grabbed the box off him and then ran back to the bed. Rob came and sat back down next me and smiled a knee-weakening smile.

"What's that?" I asked curiously, as I noticed Rob and Sean grinning at me, excitedly.

Sean slid the box over to me. "Open it and see."

Slowly, feeling like I was in a film or something, I lifted the lid off the box. In it was one of those big scrapbook things. I looked up quickly at Rob when I saw it, kind of confused.

He just smiled at me. "Open it," he said, softly.

I lifted it out gently and was surprised by its weight and thickness.

I carefully opened it out properly and turned to the first page.

In black, calligraphy writing was the name, "Jessica Mastriani," with a picture of a lightning bolt underneath.

Curiously, I turned to the next page...

* * *

Please, please review this. Please!! I don't care if I'm begging, I love reviews! If you've just read it, review! 

Ok, I'll stop degrading myself by begging now. (review!)


	5. Chapter Five

Hello everybody.

I've kind of been slowing down. Don't blame me, blame school. Please send all complaints there.

Since, my last update I have turned 15. Woooo!!

Not that it's made me more mature. Or increased the quality of my writing, Instead, I seem to be going backwards here.

Ok, menciones:

**PrudencePiperHalliwell**: Well, I'm glad you don't hate me. Anyway, here's another update just to keep me in your good books..

**Living2Love**: Hmmm, you're addicted? Mwahahaha, my plan is working… Anyway, here is some more..

**Flonshoe:** Of course Rob is the best! I don't know when I'm going to change the title. I'm still feeling uninspired in that department. It's not that awful, is it?

**Moovalous3**: Ah yes, the scrapbook. I honestly have no idea where this incredibly random idea came from. But I'm glad somebody liked it! Oh, wait. You're not supposed to know about it yet…

**Sparklingt87**: All is about to be revealed… In all its scrapbook glory

**Nikki**: Here we go, the amazing scrapbook. Sorry if it's a bit of a disappointment…

**Kelsey**: Guess again. Or, alternatively, read on…

**Dory rocks**: I sound like Meg Cabot? Whoa. That's a compliment and a half. Undeserved, but happily accepted... lol. And for you who gives nice praise, I shall keep going.

**Acidic-Lover**: I'm glad you likey. Therefore, I shall continue to... er… writey? Ahem.

**Debbi**: I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'm updating, see? An update right there.. ok, can't find a downwards arrow, but never mind..

**Beevle**: Of course I don't enjoy torturing people... ::nervous laugh::... Who have you been talking to, anyway? Because the rumours are not true. I swear. And please don't break any arms. Unless you're willing to break my right arm. Think of all the homework I could miss…

**ns**: Thank you. Awesome is a truly awesome word. I am very happy you used it to describe mon story... here is some more in exchange..

Excellent. That is everybody.

**Disclaimer: No, for the last time, I do not own this story. Meg Cabot, the true genius and hott guy mastermind has created anyone you think is hott, cool or downright awesome ::coughRobsough::. Basically everyone. Except for ones you don't recognize.**

* * *

On the next page, was a picture of Sean looking happier than I've ever seen him. He was standing there with a bike in a pretty, leafy street. He had crinkled up eyes because of the bright sun he was facing. 

Underneath the photo was his name, printed.

Then, under his name was a little handwritten piece.

I shifted into a more comfortable position and began to read it...

_"...Jess Mastriani is the coolest person I know. When my life became really difficult she risked her own life to help me. She saved me from an incredibly dangerous future and instead helped me to build a new, much happier life. I want to thank her for all that she's done. Jess, you are one of the greatest people I know and..."_

When I finished the whole thing, I must admit that my eyes were kind of wet and when I looked up wordlessly at Sean, everything looked kind of hazy, due to the water obscuring my vision.

"Sean," I croaked, with great emotion in my voice, "I ... Thank you so much. That was so sweet...and..."

"Oh, that's nothing," he said impatiently, bouncing up and down on the bed, "Go on."

There was more?

I turned to the next page, breathlessly and found myself staring at a cute picture of Shane.

I laughed a little as I recognised his cheeky grin and mischievous eyes.

Under his printed name, he had also written a little piece thanking me.

I continued flicking through the pages: Seth Blumenthal, Heather Montrose (whoa, _Heather Montrose_?), Claire Lippman...

Then, further towards the back, I saw a load of pictures of all the people I'd helped through 1-800. I tensed a bit as I saw all the smiling faces of children I'd never actually met. I mean, I'd never talked to Courtney Huang. Had they told her about me?

But I relaxed when I saw the general tone the note was written in.

"Their parents sent them in to 1-800. Rosemary sent them on." Rob explained.

I nodded, still looking at this incredible book.

It might have been cheesy, but it was still a beautiful thing.

All the people I'd ever helped actually felt the need to tell me _how much_ I'd helped. While I'd always known that helping find missing kids was quite a good thing, for the first time I realised just how much people appreciated it. Just how much I was doing for them.

It was nice to get thanks, you know?

When I'd finally finished gaping, I looked up. And by this time, the tears were flowing freely down my cheeks.

"Um, thanks, guys. This is one of the... one of the greatest... I love it."

I smiled thankfully at Sean, who grinned cheerfully back at me. "It was Rob's idea," He confessed, a bit resentfully.

I looked at Rob, surprised.

He looked a bit bashful, to say the least, "You spend so much of your time helping others. I thought it was time you got some recognition."

And at that, at my boyfriend going to all the trouble so that I could feel appreciation, I burst into tears all over again.

And this time, Rob came over and put his arms - his strong, comforting arms - around me.

And for a while I just nestled into him, relishing the fact that this guy - this _hot_ guy - had gone to all the trouble of putting something so sweet together for me.

Then, I regained my composure and straightened up.

"See what you did?" I asked, wiping my eyes, "You made me cry."

"It must have been pretty good then," declared Sean, impressed at the sight of Jess Mastriani crying. Thankfully, not disgusted.

Jess Mastriani _crying_. Whoa, did not see that one coming.

After a great time of catching up with Sean and his mom, who was pretty great, as I discovered, Rob finally looked at his watch. And frowned.

"Mastriani," he said, "We've gotta leave."

I looked reluctantly over at Sean and his mom. I really didn't want to leave. Who knew the next time I'd see them again? I mean, I was having such a great time, I'd even forgotten that the bedcover I was sitting on was stained. That's pretty huge for me.

I looked pleadingly at Rob. "Please? Can't we stay a little while longer?"

"Don't look at me like that," answered Rob, firmly, "We've gotta go now. I told your mom eight, remember?"

"So? My mom won't mind if we're a bit late. It's no big deal."

"Jess," Rob started, a little exasperated. Rob's even hotter when he's exasperated. And confused. And firm. And... well, when he's just being Rob, really. Sorry, I digress. "Jess, I don't know if you've noticed, but your mom is hardly my biggest fan. I am not gonna make her hate me even more by seeming unreliable."

"Hey, my mom does not hate you!"

"Well, maybe she doesn't. I'm just saying, I've got to make a good impression, here. I don't want them to stop us seeing each other."

And after that amazing, beautiful, statement, all I could do was just blink at Rob. He was being so sweet today, it was kind of weird. In a good way, of course, but still weird.

And Rob was staring straight back at me. Not blinking, just staring. The rest of the room and the other two people in it melted away. All I could see was his eyes and them burning into me. Filled with some kind of emotion. Almost like lo...?

With that thought, the rest of the room returned sharply to focus. I tore my gaze reluctantly from Rob's and shook my head slightly. I had got to stop thinking these stupid, overly romantic thoughts.

"So," I started, trying to clear the room of the previous intensity, "You want me to leave? What are you gonna do? Make me?"

Ok, that was probably the lamest thing I have ever said in my life - and pretty out of context too - but I needed some way to clear my head again. And sometimes, for me, downright stupidity is the safest bet.

"Mastriani," answered Rob, gathering his stuff, "I will carry you down to my bike if I have to. We've gotta leave."

I giggled - yes, giggled. I know, I know. What had come over me? But I was kind of excited at the idea of Rob carrying me down to his bike.

"I'd like to see you try," I replied, playfully. Playfully? Um, Jess Mastriani, where have you gone?

"I'm serious, Jess."

Then, as I was sitting there hoping that Rob would pick me up and carry me away, I remembered the other people in the room.

I turned quickly and noticed the nauseated expression on Sean's face.

I cleared my throat, nervously.

"So..." I began, "Are you guys gonna be ok?"

"Sure," his mom said, "Don't worry, everything's taken care of. By the time you get home we'll be safely on the plane back. Besides, with Rob's friends here looking out for us, what could go wrong?"

I bit my lip.

"Be careful, ok? I don't... I don't want anything happening to you guys."

And then Sean's mom hugged me. "Thank you so much, Jess, for everything you've done for us. I don't think we will ever be able to thank you properly."

"You already have. The book," I answered clutching it to my chest.

Then I turned to Sean, who was looking kind of downcast.

I immediately gave him a huge hug and kissed him on the cheek. "Take care, ok?"

"Aw, Jess, get off," he complained, shrugging me off. He was trying to play it cool, but he couldn't quite hide a small smile.

"Oh, sorry," I apologised, pulling away, "Wouldn't want to make Jennifer jealous now, would I?"

Then, holding the amazing book, I walked slowly over to the door where Rob was waiting.

"So you'll all be ok? Everything should work out for you." Rob assured them.

"Thank you so much for the book. I'm gonna miss you guys. Oh, hey, Sean, I know, here's my email. Email me sometime." I quickly scrawled my address on a crappy piece of hotel paper. I handed it to him, sadly. I really did like this kid.

Then Rob and I opened the door, went out and closed it. We walked silently down the corridor and Rob pressed the button for the lift.

As we waited for the crappy piece of metal to respond, I heard a bedroom door click open and someone running down the corridor.

I turned and saw a very distressed looking Sean running towards me.

"Jess," he called, in a panicky way.

"Oh my God, Sean, what's wrong? Are you ok?" I was kind of alarmed: he'd dropped the cool act and was clearly really upset.

"Jess," he panted, "Jennifer's not real."

I blinked at him, confused.

"Jennifer's not real," he repeated pointedly, "I made her up."

I stared at him and finally it dawned on me. He wasn't panicked because some murderer was in their room. No, he was worried because he'd lied to me about having a girlfriend.

"Oh, Sean," I said, kindly, "Don't worry. It doesn't matter. Someday, you will get a Jennifer. I mean, a girlfriend."

And Sean stood there looking relieved, as if this had been bothering him for some time.

Then I hugged him again. And this time he didn't pull away but hugged me back, even tighter.

"Thanks, Jess," he whispered quietly in my ear.

Then I had to slowly detach myself from him and go join Rob in the lift. And I swear, watching the elevator doors closing on Sean's flushed and saddened face was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.

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Ok. Review stop please stop I am begging you stop love Claire stop 


	6. Chapter Six

My Goodness, it's that time again.

Update Time.

Sorry it takes me so long, but I seriously am drowning in a sea of textbooks and coursework. It is not a pleasant experience.

But, all your beautiful reviews help relieve some of the suffering. So I will now individually mention you all…

**Moovalous3**: Merci, as always, Catie. Thanks for saying I'm a rockin' writer. It makes me smile : )) And I love making the kids cute. Just an odd thing I do.. Ahem. Glad it worked, anyway. And here we go, more ROB! Not that I like him or anything…

**PrudencePiperHalliwell:** Like the books? Seriously? Thank you very much if you actually meant it. Lol. Anyway, I hope you like the next bit…

**Nikki: **Yes, it would be cool. But you know what would be cooler? If he carried _me_ down. Lol. Glad you like it.

**Sparklingt87: **I'm still writing and actually updating. Sometimes my multi-tasking abilities amaze me... Hope you like this next bit!

**Living2Love: **Jeesh. I made you cry? Sorry about that. Lol. I'm really glad you like it. No, I really am. And thank you for your lovely reviews. Hope you enjoy this bit too.

**Swarminhornets06:** Why thank you. Twas high praise indeed. And now, especially for nice reviewers like you, I have updated…

**Wuteva: **Don't worry about excessive punctuation. If you ask me, (which you aren't, but never mind) there isn't enough punctuation in the world. And thanks again for the Meg thing. It always makes me smile. Anyway, because you got hyper and left a very, very nice review, here's more ROB!

**Twilight Singer: **Look, I'm updating! And I'm glad you thought it was sweet. I hope the story hasn't been/ is too boring.

**Beevle**: I don't know this "lo..." thing everyone's talking about. Maybe we'll find out later… So here we go, hope you enjoy this next bit. : )

**Sunchaser**: Aww, thanks very much for your very sweet review. I don't know why, but I love hearing nice things said about my story. I hope you enjoy this next bit!

There we go. That is all the wonderful people who have reviewed my story. Bless you all and enjoy the update..

Oh.

**Disclaimer: Ok, this is no longer funny. No, I don't own this. Meg Cabot does. And would you lay off and stop reminding me that she owns Rob? Not that I'm jealous or anything. Nuh-uh. Not jealous at _all_. Huh.**

* * *

On the way back, Rob drove fast. 

Just as fast as I like to go. He didn't go fast in the town though, he waited till we were way outside of it and then he kicked up the speed.

And it was great. I lost myself in the speed and forgot about all the crap that was bothering me. Like leaving Sean, whether they were going to get back ok, if his dad would find them... Instead I tilted my head right back into the wind and enjoyed the sensation of it knocking every breath - and thought - out of my body.

"Are you cold" Rob yelled back at me, fighting to get his voice over the wind.

"No" I yelled to him, although I'm not sure that was necessary considering my face was right by his ear.

But I didn't seem to deafen him or anything because he didn't swerve off the road. No, instead he kicked up the pace even more.

And then, I really did feel like I was flying. I actually wanted to spread my wings and lift off like a bird. Corny. And kind of stupid, cos if I had done that I would have ended up being scraped off the road later. But I still felt it, just the same.

Oh yes, Jess Mastriani definitely has a need for speed.

Later, when we'd reached the town and Rob slowed right back down, I was exhausted. I just kind of rested my head on Rob's back and closed my eyes.

Which is why, when I opened my eyes a bit later, I was surprised to find Rob pulling up outside his own house rather than mine.

He stopped the engine and pulled off his helmet.

I clamboured inelegantly off the bike and unnecessarily smoothed my short hair.

"I thought you were taking me home." I said, trying to sound casual but also pretty curious.

Well, hadn't _he_ made all that fuss back in the motel about getting me home on time?

"Yeah, I am" answered Rob, looking at me in a questioning way, "but we've got to pick up the truck first."

I smiled knowingly at Rob but the expression was totally wasted on him because he was looking at his watch. A new one, might I add. And much smaller than the one he gave me. Actually, so much smaller that sometimes I half wondered if I could ask to swap. The big black one was ok for a boyfriend trophy, but it grew heavy fast.

"Actually," began Rob, looking up at me, "we're pretty early. We could just hang out here. If you wanted, that is," he added quickly at the end, "I mean, if you want me to run you home now that's fine."

"No, no, here's fine," I began a bit too eagerly. "I mean, it's cool if we stay here."

"Good." said Rob, looking pleased.

He led me over to the front door, his arm loosely around my waist.

"My mom's out working, by the way," he said, casually, as he pushed the door open.

* * *

Inside, we collapsed on the sofa. Rob kissed me and then quickly disentangled himself from me. Something I was imaginably very disappointed about.

"You want anything?" he asked, standing up.

"Um..." I answered, helpfully. In fact, I was mentally willing him to sit back down on the sofa with me.

"Mastriani," Rob tried again, looking a little curiously at me, "Something to eat? Drink?"

"No, I'm good," I looked up into his eyes, daringly.

He seemed to resist my charms, though.

"Well, if you're sure. I'm just gonna get myself a drink. I'll be right back."

And then he wandered off to the kitchen.

I slumped back into the sofa, my arms folded. God, did he always have to be so ... proper?

But if he was going to be out the room, I thought I'd make the most of it. Let's just say that sitting on the back of a bike for a couple of hours is not the most comfortable experience, butt wise. Maybe I should get a cushion or something.

Juts as I was squirming around, trying to get myself comfy, Rob walked back in. Looking his usual, irresistible self.

I froze and tried to not like I'd just been rearranging my underwear. I sat up and - for what, the fiftieth time today?- I began to blush again.

Rob just sat down on the other side of the sofa and stared at me.

"You ok?" he asked, regarding me in an amused way.

"Perfect," I replied, in a half sulky way.

Why did he always have to catch me in the most immature situations? It's like he stands in the doorway waiting for the right moment to embarrass me. He's probably really noticing the age difference right now. Not that I care. If he has a problem with my age he really can just...

But just as I was trying as hard as I could to get mad at Rob Wilkins, he reached out an arm and drew me in to him.

And yes, I did try to stay a least _slightly_ mad at him. But come one, what girl in their right mind would say no to six feet of hot male, belonging all to them?

Exactly. I rest my case.

So that's why I leaned in closer to Rob's side and let what little, petty anger there had been, completely melt away.

I looked up at Rob at and said "Today was really great."

He smiled down at me. A very sweet smile which I couldn't help answering with a big, goofy grin of my own.

"I'm glad. I was hoping you'd want to see Sean again. And I mean, technically you did help with my actual job, so thanks for that. Sorry it was such a long ride, but I thought that would be the best way."

I didn't hear a word. Instead I was watching, in a very fascinated way, how his perfect lips were forming each word. And as he carried on talking I found that all I wanted to do was cover his lips with my own.

And so when he paused for breath, I did.

I kissed him. Shyly at first, but then he answered me and it grew deeper. He wrapped his other arm tightly around me and I linked my arms up around my neck. Soon he slipped his tongue into my mouth and even though I hadn't thought it possible, the kiss deepened even further.

Rob moved the kiss from my lips to lots of little kisses on my neck, which were gentle and soft and beautiful and every bit as passionate as before.

But then he returned once again to my lips and my brain exploded. Literally. All I could think about was Rob. And the moment we were in. My hands, which had somehow moved up into his longish hair and his arms; one, which circled my back, holding me close and the other, which he was gently running through my own hair.

And just as I was completely lost and wondering if maybe we should move it to the bedroom – what? He's my boyfriend - Rob stopped.

He just stopped.

Lifted up his head. He looked down at me where I was lying happily on his chest, breathing just as heavily as he was.

"We should... stop," said Rob, in a raw voice. "Stop and... maybe... talk."

He slithered out from under me and went to sit on the armchair next to the sofa.

I sat upright, disappointed and slightly worried.

"Talk? What about?"

"I don't know," answered Rob distractedly, "Anything. Just as long as we stop."

I relaxed a bit, relieved that he didn't mean Talk Talk and just meant general talk.

"Why do we have to stop?" I asked, coyly.

"Mastriani," Rob answered warningly, "I think you know why."

"Why?" I asked innocently.

"Because, you happen to be two years younger and I happen to be on probation."

"And why, Rob," I demanded, forgetting about being coy and alluring, "would that be?"

* * *

**Ok, now if you have just read this story, PLEASE review. Even if you don't like it. Please review. Come on, make me happy? Please? Go and tell me exactly what you think.**


	7. Chapter Seven

Whoa. I'm updating again!

And this time, Jess is all fiery and OOC. And it's quite short...

Sorry.

Anyway, I will now proceed to mention all the AWESOME and LOVELY people who have reviewed….

**Living2Love: **Thank you so much for all your lovely compliments. Seriously. They make me feel all happy. So I go and write some more. And here it is… I hope you like it.

**kittykatangel518: **Hey Nicole! And I'm updating it right now. And hopefully the next bit even sooner. Just wondering, have you read this one before? On MCBC?

**Sparklingt87: **If you want to find out what happens, you have to read on… And review too. Because it's always nice when you review. : )

**Nikki007: **Yeah, damn Rob and all his properness. Hopefully we'll see him being marginally less proper soon…. But then, what do I know about this story?

**Molz: **Thank you for the appreciation. And I will now put up some more.

**Moovalous3**: Catie! Aww, thanks for saying I'm a good writer AGAIN. Bless you. You know you are incredibly awesome yourself. And I can't wait to read more of YOUR story. Lol.

**Me'shell**: You probably aren't reading this, seeing as how you only reviewed without reading any of it. But, who cares? You are a very odd and random person. Tis fine if you thought it dreadful. Tis weird if you said so without reading.

**Iluvrobbie: **Thank you so much. That was such a sweet review. People saying nice stuff gets me every time. And I will email you if you really vant me to. But I say very random stuff in emails…Anyway, I'll try and find some time…

**Hello** and **hhhello** too, I guess: Thank you for reviewing so nicely. You did manage to make me very happy. I'm sorry if you found the trip thing disappointing. And he wasn't just delivering stuff, he was also taking her to see Sean… Anyway, who knows what mood I was in when I came up with the plot? Best not to ask, really.

**Marjorie**: Merci beaucoup beaucoup. You said very nice things about me and they made me blush. And for very nice people who say very nice things, I will update…

**Er…me**: Your point was very clearly put. I am now updating… But thank you for being so enthusiastic! Here is some more of the story and I hope you do/did well in your tests!

**Disclaimer: None of this belongs to moi, Claire. Instead, Meg Cabot,( who I suspect does not realize how incredibly lucky she is), owns it all. Including Rob. Which, if you ask me, really isn't fair. ; )**

Bien. On y va.

Here's some more…

* * *

Rob frowned at me and then shook his head. 

"Mastriani," he sighed, "I thought I'd made it clear that I wasn't going to tell you. Yet."

"Why not?" I demanded, pissed off, "Cos you don't trust me?"

"Of course it's not that I don't trust you. It's just that I don't want to. I will, but not yet. It's complicated."

"You don't want to?" What kind of an answer is that? But I softened my voice and leaned over to Rob, "It's ok, you can tell me."

I rested my hand gently on his arm and looked up into his eyes, "Honestly Rob, no matter what it is, it's not gonna put me off. I've already told you, I lo-"

Rob shoved my arm away and looked at me. He laughed nervously, "Uh uh, Mastriani, no way are you getting it out of me like that. Let's leave it there."

I stood up and perched on the side of his armchair. I was eye level with him.

"I mean it Rob, I love you," I continued loudly over his protests, "and nothing you tell me is going to change that."

Rob stared at me speechless for a moment and then pulled me down towards him. We then picked up from where we had left off earlier. He was gentle and tender and passionate and it made my heart want to burst.

But once again Rob stopped. Rob, the proper, manly, chivalrous guy stopped.

The moron.

He held me in his arms against him and whispered in my ear, "I'm still not gonna tell you."

I leapt forward, away from his embrace and stared him in the eye.

"Why not, Rob. Why not? I don't get it." My performance had the potential of being impressive and effective, but it was kind of spoilt by the fact that I was sitting on his lap.

Rob left my gaze and picked up my hand. He started gently playing with it, avoiding looking up.

"I said it's complicated, ok?" He paused and then added quietly, "It's embarrassing."

I narrowed my eyes at him. Embarrassing? Rob, embarrassed? It was kind of hard to picture.

"You shouldn't be embarrassed in front of me, Rob," I said gently.

He just said nothing and instead shook his head, indicating that no way was he going to tell me.

"Look, Rob," I began, using what I hoped was a tough voice, "I can understand that it might be hard for you to tell me. But I can't understand you not even trying. Am I not important enough to know? Am I too stupid to be worthy of knowing? What is the problem?"

"Of course you're important enough to know, Jess. It's just... I don't want you knowing yet... I will tell you, I promise. If I told you now, you might…"

I leapt up off his lap and stood angrily in front of him.

"Weren't you listening to a single thing I said? I told you, it doesn't matter what it is. I'm not going to judge you."

"In fact," I added, pacing a few steps, "You not telling me is going to make me more pissed off than you having committed murder."

Rob looked up at me pleadingly, "Let's not fight, Mastriani, this is stupid. I'll tell you when I'm ready."

"Look, Rob," I said, retreating to the doorway, my voice shaking with emotion. "You know I love you. I'm not asking you to say you love me, I know that's too much to ask for. All I want is a little bit of honesty. How can I stay with you knowing that you have one secret you can't bring yourself to share with me, your girlfriend? I love you, Rob. I love you. But I can't stand you keeping stuff from me."

And with that speech out, I left his house, slamming the door behind me.

As I tramped angrily down the road, I recalled Rob's astonished expression and tried to decide whether it had been angry or simply stunned.

I took bitter pleasure from the speech I had made. It was kind of unexpected coming from me. Actually, I was kind of proud of it. Ha, now he knows I'm not a stupid walkover.

I pulled my jacket closer around me and continued along the road. I remembered just how far I had to walk and began regretting my speech, however impressive it had been. Now I had to walk a bloody long way home and it was getting dark. And maybe, I'd been a bit too harsh on him. I mean, he must have had his reasons, right?

But still, he could have told me them slightly better. His reasons, I mean.

I kicked a pebble ahead of me and scuffed my feet on the ground. I scowled angrily.

Then I heard it. The sound my ears strained for every night. The only sound I ever wanted to hear (apart from Rob telling me he loved me, obviously). Except for right now.

Yep, Rob's Indian, roaring down the road behind me.

* * *

**Ok, I want to make a deal with you guys. I have the next bit all ready. And I really want to post it (because it's one of my favourite bits so far and it's a lot longer). However, I will not post it till I get at least ten reviews for this chapter. It is harsh, yes. But I'm not particularly ashamed. So, if you do feel like reading any more, please click on that little review button and tell me what you think.**

**Please.**


	8. Chapter Eight

Bloomin' 'Eck.

I ought to blackmail you all more often.

I've never had so many reviews in one go. Or seen so many outraged reviews.

It's funny that blackmail is given such a bad press when it achieves such amazing results.

So here, all you lovely, lovely people, are your mentions…

**PrudencePiperHalliwell**: Ok, ok, I didn't mean to anger you. I promise. I'm posting it… see? Please don't hurt me…

**Heidigirl**: I'm sorry if it was mean, but it had to be done. Well, I thought it had to be, anyway... But, it worked pretty well, and now I'm updating…

**Chava**: Aha! I was hoping there was somebody out there who was reading but not reviewing. Guess I found them. Thank you very much for your review. It was actually a very good one. And long. I like long reviews. But thank you. And I understand about maintaining your lazy reputation. Unfortunately when I use that excuse on my parents, they never seem to be that supportive. And, ye who doth not reviewe, I hope you enjoy this update.

**Kittykatangel518**: I'm sorry for being mean. But here I am posting the next chapter. So you forgive me, right...?

**Molz**: Wow. That is the first review I've seen containing the words 'cliffie' and 'like' in the same sentence. So here I am. Telling. Telling a lot, actually.

**Acidic-Lover: **Yep, Jess suddenly had an anger outburst. And stood up for herself. And, the results weren't too bad, either…

**Blufaery**: I didn't actually have to wait for the ten updates. I simply went to bed and they were there in the morning. Twas very nice, actually. Thank you for liking my story and here I am, updating. Are you pleased?

**Princess Jayne 01**: Thank you for being approving. Here is the promised update. Well, after I've finished mentioning people and disclaiming and rambling, it's there.

**Ritzbitz**: Good, I'm glad you approve of me posting the next bit. Because I am.

**Sparklingt87**: Sorry I stopped there. But I'm continuing now.

**Nikki007**: I did have to stop there. Otherwise the whole story would be one looong chapter. And I like having breaks. But here is the new chapter.

**Nick**: You really think that? I guess being kind of obsessed does have some advantages! Thank you for your very nice review. It was very nice.

**Disclaimer: No matter how many misguided people tell me that I sound a leetle bit like Meg Cabot… I am not her. All of this belongs to her. Not me. Well, the plot and stuff does actually belong to me. But the characters are all hers. Including Rob Wilkins. And I will not write anymore about this fact otherwise I will start sounding like a bitter, bitter person. Which I am obviously not.**

Ok, this chapter could very easily have been split into two different ones. I was tempted, I must admit. But I decided that you had all evidently suffered enough. Plus I got lots of nice compliments in my reviews (which amounted to just over 10) So I thought I'd give you one long chapter. How exceedingly nice of me.

Oh and the writing may be a bit... weak. Kind of OOC and odd. But never mind. At least it's long, right? Right?

I hope y'all enjoy it, now.

* * *

I kept on walking steadily forward, refusing to turn my head. I continued even when I knew that Rob's bike was slowly moving alongside me. 

I kept walking when I heard Rob stop and dismount. And start walking really fast to keep up with me.

But I couldn't ignore him any longer when he suddenly seized my shoulders and spun me around to face him.

"What do you freaking want?" I snarled at him. Only I didn't say 'freaking'.

"What was that crap you came out with back at my house?" he demanded pointedly, still holding onto my shoulders.

"What, you mean the part about you not wanting to tell me why you're on probation?" I answered sarcastically, "Yeah, sure, that was all crap, Rob." I stared defiantly back up at him. No way was he going to intimidate me.

"No, not that," said Rob impatiently, shaking his head slightly, "I mean the part about … about me not loving you."

"Huh?" I said in a really bold way, my heart starting to beat that bit much faster.

"You know," carried on Rob, "where you said me loving you was 'too much to ask'."

He stood back and looked me in the eye in a way that suggested he wanted an answer. I blinked at him a few times and then started to talk, my mouth dry.

"It's just that, you know…."

Rob still stared at me intensely, his fog grey eyes boring into mine.

"Just that you're a guy. And I know that you don't love me, but that's fine. Really. I mean, it hasn't been that long or whatever. I don't expect you to now." I suddenly rushed out, feeling like a total idiot.

"Jess," said Rob, seeming to find it hard to form the words, "You moron."

And with that perfect insult, he pulled me forward and started to kiss me deeply and tenderly.

And I forgot that I was mad at him. So mad that I had just left his house and started walking home. I just concentrated on kissing him back.

After a while, he pulled his head back, leaving his arms where they had protectively circled me.

He put his mouth close to my ear and kissed it. "Jess," he whispered softly, "Of course, I… of course I love you."

He brought his head back round to in front of mine and I stared at him speechlessly.

"How many guys," he said quietly, with a slight smile, "would be stupid enough to drive you for hours to visit some random kid? How many would be dumb enough to act as your missing child investigator, chauffeur and assistant? You're going to have to face it sooner or later, Mastriani; I'm smitten."

And with that bombshell, he leaned in again, covering my mouth gently with his own. And proceeded to kiss me every bit as tenderly and deeply as before… if not more.

* * *

After a while of pure bliss – come on, the guy _loved_ me. Ha. Me. Jess Mastriani – I opened my eyes and pulled my head away. I'd just remembered something.

"Rob," I said in a bored voice, though my brain was still dancing circles around me – he loved me! – "You know, telling me you love me, isn't going to make me forget."

"Forget what?" asked Rob, confused, looking very much like he wanted me to stop talking and kiss him again.

I ignored the fact that for once, Rob was actually welcoming the option of kissing a girl two years younger, and bravely continued.

"You know… I'm not just gonna forget that you won't tell me why you're on probation. I'm not …that kind of girl." I finished lamely, as if he'd just asked me to do something improper.

"I know," answered Rob, casually, "After you walked out on me, I kind of realised."

"Now, Rob, I know we've… Hang on. What did you just say?"

"I said in a weird way that I would tell you."

"You would? I mean, you will?"

"What else am I supposed to do? I can't have us fighting all the time and then haveto drive down the road and tell you I love you."

"So you're gonna tell me?"

"Yep."

"Now?"

"Yep."

"Right now?"

"Yep. Well, no. Not right now. I mean, we're on the road so it's not ideal. I'm gonna take you back home first. To my home, I mean."

And so I climbed on his Indian behind him. And he drove the five minutes back down the road. Turns out I'm a very slow walker and hadn't got very far.

Back at his house, he led me silently into the house and sat me down on the sofa. Then, remaining standing, he turned and faced me with a serious expression on his face.

"Ok, now promise you won't laugh."

"Laugh?" I asked, confused, "Why would I laugh?"

I'd been waiting for ages to hear this. It must have been pretty serious if he wouldn't tell me. So no way was I going to spoil it by laughing. It probably wouldn't even be a laughing matter.

However, I was having trouble controlling nervous giggles as I watched Rob pacing in front of me. It all seemed so serious. It was kind of a momentous day, actually. I couldn't believe that he was actually going to tell me. I mean, I've been wondering what it was since the day I realised he was on probation. Which has been a pretty long time.

One of my giggles escaped my mouth and Rob stared at me anxiously, "What?"

"Nothing," I replied, sobering up immediately. "It just seems so tense and serious."

Rob sighed and sat down beside me.

"Ok, you know my dad's doing time at the moment?"

"Uh huh," I answered, intelligently

"Well, when I was younger, I never knew what he was in for. Understandably, my mom never wanted to talk about it. But I was going off the rails as a kid. I was fatherless and was being bullies by some stupid townies…" He looked worriedly at me and I smiled to show I didn't care, "When I went to visit my dad he would always tell me that he had been falsely accused. And I got madder and madder cos I thought the stupid cops were keeping my dad away from me for something he didn't do."

He paused and wet his lips. He looked so sweet, sitting there, concentrating hard on his story that I just wanted to reach up and kiss him. But I had to demonstrate some self control. I let him continue.

"So, uh, I planned to try and bust him out."

He stared down at his lap for a while and I watched him. He continued talking to the floor.

"It was pretty amateur. Just me and a few friends planning to take on a prison. I winded up injuring two guards and getting caught. Of course I was never gonna get near. Instead, I ended up on probation because they realised I hadn't been told the truth and was pretty young."

"Of course," he added bitterly, "I only found out the real reason my dad was in there, afterwards: for armed robbery and killing an innocent shopkeeper. All for the contents of a tiny shop till."

He looked so sad, sitting there forlornly that I didn't know what to say. Instead, I gently put my hand on his arm. He looked up at me in a way that was deeply unhappy and questioning. Like he didn't know how I was going to react.

I smiled tenderly up at him.

"Thanks for telling me."

And then I kissed him really softly. Showing, rather than telling, that I honestly didn't care.

And Rob, obviously relieved, kissed me back with so much care and … love…that it truly was one of the most beautiful moments of my life. As corny and un-Jess like as that sounds.

After a while, a thought occurred to me and I pulled away. Rob smiled happily down at me.

"Rob?" I asked, trying to work something out, "You know when I was in the FBI 'safe house' and you busted me out of there… Well, wasn't that like…"

"I know," he answered, cutting me off, "but you were genuinely worth it. I wouldn't have made the same mistake twice except for something pretty important. And I couldn't have left you there, could I?"

And then I hugged him. It sounds weird, but considering all we'd been doing was making out, hugging was just as good. It was really comfy, snuggled up close to Rob, hearing his heart beat alongside mine and feeling his head resting on mine.

* * *

**Thank you for flying Uh.yeah Enterprises. I trust you enjoyed the story and will be revisiting it soon.**

**Please feel free to review and tell us exactly what you thought.**

**It would make the pilot feel loved and appreciated, even if they contain murderous insults.**


	9. Chapter Nine

Ok, I can hardly believe that this update is finally done. It had been a long time, has it not? Well, I had loads of trouble with this, but I've finally managed to get something done. And after all your lobely reviews, I think you deserve it.

Here are all your menciones:

**Quietly Losing Control**: Hmmm, I didn't really update soon, did I::smiles sheepishly:: Hehehe I love that word – sheepishly – ahem. Anyway, yeah. Sorry for not updating sooner, but thank you for the review!

**kittykatangel518: **Yeah, this is my first one off MCBC. Except, this chapter and onwards weren't posted on MCBC. So hopefully there will be something new here. Although it does sound a bit like my other story….

**PrudencePiperHalliwell**: Nope, sorry, but that's not the end. I have some more to come yet. Not sure what, but there will be something… I hope…

**Molz**: You like my probation reason? Merci. It took me ages to come up with it. No, I lie; I came up with it during a particularly boring bus journey. But yeah, anyway, I hope you read (review) and enjoy this update.

**Nikki007**: I'm updating now. After a long period of staring at the wall my computer screen kept turning in to. How poetic. And senseless. Anyway, pleath enjoyeth thiseth updateth.

**Flonshoe**: Hehehe. Smitten indeed. We should bring it back. Although it reminds me of Haily. No, happy thoughts… Thank you for the review - short but very effective.

**DarkPrincessKate**: Aww, I like making Rob and Jess cute together. Not sure if I always succeed but it's fun to try. Thanks for your nice review.

**Sparklingt87**: Meh, I had a brief period of writer's block so it's been a while. But I'm back now and I hope you enjoy this new chapter!

**Rogue Almighty**: Ok, thanks for the advanced warning. I'll try not to withhold a chapter again, but it's just so much fun… I know I keep going OOC for Jess, but I haven't had the books for ages and I badly need to reread them. So sorry about that. : )

**Nick**: Thank you very much. I am glad I amused with my probation idea. Please enjoy this chapter.

**Living2Love**: Aw, you always give me such nice reviews. They make me feel so special. And really bad that I haven't updated for so long. So I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks for being so lovely!

**Anywien**: When I get to the last author's note I'm generally so psyched that I've actually completed another chapter, my brain tends to short circuit. Ahem. And don't worry, I will continue subjecting readers to more of this story. Probably for a while yet.

**Immortality**: Uh oh. I hope I didn't put you off your tests. Because that was ages ago now... Anyway, a genius? Not sure I'd agree with you there, but hey, I'll accept the compliment! Hope you enjoy this chapter : )

**Moovalous3**: Hey, moo moo. Ok, sorry, but whenever I start writing something to you, I always get the urge to call you moo moo. No idea why. But before you start changing your name and dialling for the stalkers association, rest assured that it will pass. I hope... Anyway, don't feel bad about missing that chapter. It just means you didn't have to wait as long as everyone else for this one! And yeah, I remember 'I'm smitten'. Indeed, but how un oeuf could I forget? Lol. Here's another chapter for you.

**frostyqueen672**: Yay! I rocked someone's socks. Sorry, my aim in life is to be a sock rocker. Haven't told my careers adviser yet, though. Anyway, where was I? Oh, thank you very much for the review. And I guess your good luck wishes helped me a lot because I've actually completed another chapter!

So there we go, all my lovely reviewers. Who are very nice.

But most of all, for being such an awesome person, this chapter is dedicated to **CATIE.** Rock on, you sock rocker, you.

And, even though she'll probably never ever read this, **HAILY**. We miss her.

**Disclaimer: I am not Meg Cabot and therefore, I don't own any of the characters or story. Although I did come up with this particular idea. Whatever. You've all read enough of these to know what I mean. And that I really wish I owned Rob. I think I may have mentioned that before….**

* * *

Later, Rob dropped me off home in the truck. 

He stopped the truck outside my house and we sat in silence for a few minutes. I watched him happily as he sat staring back at me.

I leaned in slowly for one last kiss. Frustratingly, Rob pulled away. He leaned further back and regarded me with his infuriating, insanely hot, half amused, half disgusted smile.

"I think we've done enough of that for one day, Mastriani."

"Enough of what?" I asked, innocently.

"You know," he answered, happily, climbing out the car. He reappeared in a few seconds and held my door open for me.

He walked me up to my front door and although there was a silence between us, it wasn't uncomfortable.

We stood in the porch and I rang the doorbell. Trust me to forget my keys. I guess in the excitement of Rob actually coming over I hadn't thought about picking them up.

"Jess," my mom said, opening the door, "There you are. I was just beginning to wonder what was keeping you." She narrowed her eyes slightly at Rob.

"Mom, chill," I answered, calmly, "We said eight remember? In fact," I added, glancing at the massive, unglamorous black watch Rob had given me, "we're early."

"Oh," Mom replied, standing, looking like a goldfish in the doorway, staring at me and Rob.

I mentally willed her to go away so I could say goodbye to Rob in private.

She continued her open mouthed goldfish impersonation. I was dying to tell her just how unattractive it was, but I thought it might be safer to keep quiet.

When it became apparent mom was going nowhere, Rob took action.

Giving me a tiny kiss on the cheek he said softly, "I'll call you," and left.

Stunned, that he had actually kissed me in front of my mom, I stood frozen in the doorway staring after him. It was such a shame he had to leave….

"Jess," said mom briskly, walking off, "close the door."

I closed the heavy door on the image of Rob – the guy who loved me and had finally told me why he was on probation - pulling the truck off down the road.

Once the door was fully closed, I did a spin worthy of gym class and made a desperate dash for the stairs. I had managed about five steps when I heard my mom yell my name.

I stopped, and slowly turning around, saw her standing determinedly in the middle of the bottom step. He face was not wearing a happy expression.

"Yes?" I asked, trying to look like a sweet and obedient daughter.

She paused for a second, staring calmly at me. "Aren't you going to come and help me with dinner?"

"Sure," I answered, trying to hide my dismay – I was no fool. 'help me with dinner' was obviously a cover up for, 'come and listen to me rant about the unsuitability of your boyfriend' – "Can I just go put some stuff in my room?"

"Ok, but makes sure you're down here quickly. No hiding in your room thinking I'll forget – because I won't."

Whoa, tough mom mode. I turned and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Outside Doug's room, I paused for a few seconds and then threw open the door.

Without looking up from his comic book, he raised his eyebrows and said, "Are you every going to learn how to knock?"

"No," I replied, cheerfully, "Besides, I need to save my fists for punching things more worthy than wooden doors."

Doug set the comic down beside him and looked at me sternly, "I thought you were trying to give up the whole fighting thing."

I shrugged. "You never know."

I walked over to his bed and looked at the comic book he was reading. It was another one containing some tall blonde with big boobs. "Guys obviously read these for the fantastic plot lines," I said sarcastically, motioning to the girl.

"Of course," answered Doug, gearing himself up for a defensive speech, "It's not just about the –" he trailed off as he spotted the large scrapbook I was holding in my hand, "Hey, what's that?"

"Oh, nothing," I said casually, tightening my grip on it.

"Yeah, sure it's nothing. Because my sister really carries scrapbooks around all the time." With that, he moved faster than I thought was possible for Doug, and snatched the scrapbook out of my arms.

Now, if Mike had done that, he would probably be lying on the floor with a bleeding nose. But because it was Doug, I merely sighed and went to sit beside him on the bed.

"What is this, some kind of biography?" he asked, as he saw the first page.

But he soon fell silent as he started to read all the different messages of thanks. As I sat next to him, reading it with him, it was like reading it for the first time all over again. I had to keep reminding myself that this book was really for me. That the person they were thanking, was me. And all I had to do was sleep and I helped all these people. Weird. And once I'd had that revelation, all the warm feelings written in people's message were having some kind of strange effect on me and I found myself wanting to hug someone. Well, to be honest, hug Rob. But he wasn't there so I had to restrain myself. Pity.

When Doug had finished the book, he carefully closed it and held it the right way up on his lap. "Where did you get this?" he asked, "It's amazing."

"Oh," I said, feeling all proud inside, "It was Rob. And Sean too, but mainly Rob."

Doug whistled, "That Wilkins guy must really like you," I smiled to myself, remembering the three little words he'd told me earlier, "And..." Doug's eyes narrowed, "Did you say Sean?"

"Maybe…" I said, uncomfortably, "Here did you read the thing Shane wrote? It's really fu-" my voiced faded away as I saw the look on Doug's face.

"Sean?" he repeated, sternly, "The first kid? The one you had to get busted out of Crane with?"

"Yes," I said quietly.

"Is he back or something? I thought he was hiding from his dad."

"Yeah he is, but he's back for one day. That's all. I saw him today, but it was completely secret. Rob had everything fully covered."

Doug looked at me, worriedly. "I hope everything's going to turn out all alright."

"It will, Doug," I reassured him, I didn't want to set off another one of his Episodes or anything, "Now, can I have the book back? I've got to go and help mom with dinner."

"Oh," laughed Doug, seeming to cheer up a bit, "now you're going to really get it from her. She's been working all this up for ages."

"I know," I said, grimly, gritting my teeth, "and I better hurry, because she seems pretty intent and scary about it."

"Maybe you should show her the book," he added thoughtfully, as he handed it over.

"Yeah, sure," I said sarcastically, cuffing him on the head as I left the room.

The 'helping with dinner' was exactly as I had expected. Maybe even worse, though I don't want to be pessimistic. I'm pretty sure the whole house had heard the smashed plate and hysterical cries of, "Own a garage? _That's_ his ambition?" And when Mike and Doug came down for dinner, the smug grin from Mike and the sympathetic one from Doug confirmed my belief. Thank God I didn't mention the P word….

The atmosphere at dinner was pretty icy. To put it mildly. Doug and Mike had their heads down, eating like they were afraid the food was about to disappear before they could finish it. Mom was sitting, fuming at one head of the table, glaring down at her plate while I was viciously stabbing my roast potatoes with my fork, so hard that at one point, I thought I'd broken my plate. And my dad, who had only just come in, was sitting at the head of the table, staring from face to face, clearly trying to work out what the hell was going on.

"So," started my dad, tentatively, "How was everyone's day?"

We all stared at him blankly.

"Doug?" he prompted.

"Um… ok," answered Doug obligingly, "You know, saw Tasha, went to work..."

"Ah," said dad, clearly trying to build up a conversation, "So work at the comic shop is going well?"

But Doug clearly wasn't in the mood for any more talking, as he replied, "I guess," and then continued eating.

"And Mike?" asked dad, making another attempt.

Mike shrugged. "You know, met up with Claire…" And then he too carried on eating.

"Jess?" asked dad, clearly growing desperate. You had to hand it to him, he was determinedly soldiering on, "How was your day?"

"Actually, dad," I said, feeling sorry for the man, "I had a really good day."

"You did?" asked dad, his face brightening, "And what did you do?"

"Well, I basically spent the whole day with-"

"That Boy," interrupted my mother coldly, "She spent the whole day with that gr-" She stopped herself just in time.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I hissed angrily at her, "What was that you were about to say? Were you going to call him a grit?"

"Jessica," warned my mother, "Don't be ridiculous. Do you realise that that supposed boyfriend of yours has no actual intention of going to college?"

"Um, yes," I fired angrily back at her, "But does that make him a bad person? He's made other plans and is working hard to follow them. Maybe, if you weren't so narrow minded, you'd be able to see that. But no, you're too stuck up to think for a minute that if some people want to do different things with their life, it doesn't make them any less important."

Mom was just sitting gaping angrily at me, "Jessica Mastriani," she shouted at me, "How dare you talk to me like that? I'm just worried about you. Rob Wilkins is hardly a suitable choice; he's two years older than you for goodness sake."

"I think I'm old enough to decide who I want to go out with for myself, _mother_," I said, dangerously.

It was at this point, that my father, who had been watching our exchange in a kind of bewildered daze, held up his hands like he surrendered and yelled, "Enough!"

Me and my mother shut up and went back to staring moodily down at our plates.

"Can't we just have a nice family dinner?" my dad asked nobody in particular.

We carried on eating for a few minutes, but the room was so charged with anger, it was kind of suffocating.

After a while, Doug put his fork down and staring at me went, "Why don't you just tell her about the book?"

"What?" he carried on, as I glared furiously at him, "I thought it might lighten the atmosphere a bit."

"Ow!" he yelled, as I kicked him sharply under the table.

"What book is this?" asked my dad, interestedly.

"Nothing," I said, sullenly.

"Well it can't be nothing if Doug brought it up," said my mom, smartly.

"Fine," I said through gritted teeth, giving Doug another kick for good measure, "Rob gave me a book today."

"A book?" repeated my dad, clearly puzzled, "A reading book?"

"No," I sighed, "it's like a scrapbook. Containing messages from kids or parents of kids I've helped find."

"He made that for you?" asked my dad, clearly impressed.

"Yeah," I answered, unable to keep a note of pride out of my voice.

"Isn't that a bit dangerous?" spoke up my mom, "What if he's rekindled media interest?"

"All the messages from kids found through 1-800-WHERE-R-U were sent to the agency. They didn't know anything about me," I answered her coldly.

"Oh. Can we see the book?"

"Uh…" I appealed wide eyed to my dad, "Maybe later?"

"Of course," relented my dad, somehow seeing that I wanted to keep it private for now.

My mom picked up her knife and fork and began eating thoughtfully.

I went to bed that night, trying to forget the argument with my mother and instead focus on all that had happened with Rob. Lots of good stuff.

I climbed into bed and reread my own special scrapbook. It seemed that no matter how many times I read it, I still couldn't get over the fact that all these people were grateful towards me. I flicked back to Sean's page and looked at his happy, smiling face. I was really going to miss that kid. Maybe I could visit him sometime, though.

After a long, and generally pretty good day, I fell asleep reading his sweet message.

When I woke up in the morning, the book was on my face and had a made an angry red mark on the side of my cheek.

But I didn't care about that. All I could think of was Sean. And the fact that he wasn't where he was supposed to be. Nowhere near.

* * *

_Ha-di-ha! Yesssss. I finally finished!_

_I hope everyone mildly enjoyed it._

_If you did, REVIEW. __If you didn't, REVIEW. __So basically, my overall message is… REVIEW._

_So go do it, already. _

_Hehehe, how Americanised I am._


	10. Chapter Ten

Um, hey. Anyone remember me? At all?

Nope, didn't think so.

Ok, SORRY. I'm SORRY it's been so long. I really, honestly am. There's just been... stuff happening which kept getting in the way. Mainly exams, but other stuff too. So, once again, I apologise for the obscene delay and hope this chapter is ok.

Personally, I think it sucks, but there you go. Nothing happens, not that I want to give anything away...

As ever, menciones;

**Quietly Losing Control**: I'm guessing it's a little late to take you up on the whole chocolate biscuit thing. Shame though. Thanks for reviewing. :D

**uknowwhoslittleprincess: **You'll have to read on to find out. lol. Although, to be honest, not a whole lot happens in this chapter.

**Living2Love**: Oh dear, I hope you're not even madder. I've taken even longer to update this one... Sorry. Thanks again for your really lovely (but undeserved) compliments. I hope you like this and can I just say for the 100th time, I love Rob too.

**Mrs. Nikki Slater**: Is this a Paul fan I see? Thanks for the review. And yeah, Jess' mom was pretty annoying...

**Anywien**: Hangs head in shame I know, it takes me ages to update. I'm a terrible person. But I aim to get better from now on. I'm sorry. Please accept this chapter with my apologies.

**iluvmybeagle**: Whoa, thanks. :D I hope you _aime_ this chapter!

**StarQueen456**: Merci buckets, I hope you like this chapter...

**Nick**: Sorry if my chapters are short. Sometimes they get pretty hard to write. But I hope this one's ok.

**SingingSoftly:** Not a sequel, exactly. But I am continuing with this. Is that alright? Thank you so much for your really lovely review; I'm glad you liked it. **:D**

**Murfdurf22: **Tis shocking, indeed. Hope this chapter's alright for you.

**flonshoe**: Hey! Of course I appreciated that review. Made my day, really. Sorry you had to reread the whole story again though. I'm thinking of putting up my other story when I get more or less done with this one. I'm not very good at the updating thing, as you know. Man, so much has happened since I last update... like Haily coming back. Anyway, I hope you like this one (and can remember what happened before) ;)

**moovalous3**: Damn these English spellcheckers! Thanks for your lovely, lovely review. And yeah, we're getting into new territory with these chapters. Previously unseen. Exciting, non? I love Doug too. Which is why I've decided to include him a lot more... dun dun dun. Thanks again for the review. And the huge compliments, bless you. Talk to you soon!

**frostyqueen672**: Here I am updating and in the process of finishing. Hope you like it!

**Jesse'sQuerida**: Sorry it took me so long, but here I am, finally updating. Not much happens, but at least it's something, right? Hope you enjoy this.

**Rob4eva**: lol, thanks. Glad my story made you happy. Even though I suck at updating. So sorry about that. Hope you enjoy this chapter too.

**JeSsFrEaK2244**: No! It's not over yet. I'm planning on subjecting people to this for a while longer, you know. Hope you like this chapter...

**EasyTiger**: Thank you. For cookies and chocolate I will do anything. Including writing stories with Rob in. Which is such a huge sacrifice. Hehehe. Hope you like this.

**Angel Gemman: **Thank you very berry much. Sorry you had to wait so long, but I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**MCfanwoo**: Your review was definitely not stoopid. It wasn't even stupid. Thanks very much and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Welcome to fanfic. Although, I've taken so long to update, you've probably been here for ages...

**Banana Yellow Flip-Flops**: Jess' mom is shockingly rude. Thank you for the review and I hope you enjoy this. PS, I love your name.

**cassie89**: Thank you very much. Please enjoy this. :D

Man, that takes up a lot of room. If I missed you out, please accept my apology and feel free to yell at me.

**Disclaimer: You knew it belonged to Meg Cabot, didn't you? Anyone would've thought you'd read a disclaimer before!**

* * *

I sat up and instinctively put my hand out to the side of my bed where I knew Chigger would be sleeping. After a long and heated debate with my parents, they'd finally conceded that having a large and affectionate German shepherd sleeping in your room wasn't such a bad thing. Obediently, he sat up and came and rested his head on my lap. I stroked his head distractedly as I tried to think of something to do. 

It was pretty obvious that I had to go get him. Sean, I mean. Had to go save the kid from the unbearable pain I knew he was in. Had _felt_ he was in. No way was I going to let him continue suffering like that.

But I wasn't entirely sure how I was going to sort it out. I mean, it wasn't like I could just go call the feds for back up. That would be like betraying Sean. They'd just go send him back to his dad, with whom he legally belonged, and lock his mom up for kidnap, or something. And that would suck.

I guess I could have called Rob. He'd have gone with me. But it would have taken too long for him to come over. I needed to leave then and there. Besides, weren't his friends supposed to have been watching the place? Weren't they supposed to be making sure Sean was safe?

I twisted my hands a little more violently through Chigger's thick fur and he responded by letting out a quiet whine. It broke me out of my troubled planning and I stood up quickly.

"Ok, boy, we have to go. Right now. We can... call Rob on the way."

I dressed at lightning speed and after cramming a load of stuff I'd seen people take in action films – you know, penknife, torch, string, that kind of stuff – I ran down the stairs, Chigger close at my heels.

In the kitchen, my dad was sitting at the table, eating his breakfast.

"Good morning, Jess, Chigger," he said happily, from behind the pages of his favourite broadsheet. He reached a hand out to lazily scratch Chigger behind the ears - despite his earlier doubts, my dad seems to have grown quite fond of him, "You're up a little early. Nervous?"

"Nervous? What?" I blinked at him, my mind still in overdrive on the whole Sean thing. Sure I was nervous, but how the hell did my dad know about it?

"About your test tomorrow."

"Oh, that," I shook my head a little, as I remembered. "Um, not too much. It's not like I haven't driven before..." I stopped as something suddenly dawned on me, "Actually, yeah I am. Don't you think it'd be a good idea if I got some practice in today? You know, went driving today?"

"Of course," agreed my dad, "You want as much practice as possible. How about on the way to school?"

I froze again. I mean, come on, what was this? First a driving test and now school? Someone really needed to tell the Big Guy that Sean was in trouble and I was the best chance he had of being rescued. I think I deserved a bit of a break.

Or maybe this was the price I had to pay for spending an amazing day with Rob yesterday?

Whatever. Life sucks.

I looked back over at my dad who was eying me, somewhat concernedly.

"Do you want to take the car on the way to school?" he asked.

"Uh, sure. That'd be great."

"Who would go with you? I have to go work. And unfortunately, your mother has to go help out with the new records at Mastriani's. I guess you could ask Ruth?"

"Oh, dad, um..." I was not going to drag Ruth into something like this. "Ruth has had to go early today for an... orthodontist appointment."

"Really?" he frowned at me.

I didn't blame him. The lie was a bit of a long shot. I mean, Ruth only lives next door. He only had to look out the window to see Ruth's car and possibly her moving around in the front room. But I had to try. I was desperate. Sean was desperate.

My dad looked troubled, but I guess he had to go to work pretty bad because he seemed to buy it.

"And Mike's gone for an early class."

"Hey, don't worry about it," I said airily, "I can manage it on my own. It's only to school, right?"

"Don't think I'm letting you take it out alone, Jessica," said my dad, warningly, "It's rush hour and you're taking the test tomorrow. I think the risk is a little too great."

"Aw, come on, dad." I pleaded, "I need the car. There's no one who can go with me."

Just then we were interrupted from our debate by the sound of someone coming down the stairs. I kind of welcomed the disturbance, actually, because it seemed pretty clear that I was losing and needed to think of a new approach. Which meant that the smile I greeted Doug with was slightly wider and more relieved than necessary.

My dad looked over at Doug, suspiciously. "Aren't you supposed to be working today?"

"I've got a day off today," yawned Doug, reaching lazily for some cereal, "In exchange for an extra job they want me to do next weekend."

He looked shrewdly at the way me and dad were positioned, with Chigger lying wearily on the floor between us. "What's going on?"

"Jess wants to take the car but there's no one who can go with her." said my dad, tiredly, as he turned his attention partially back to his newspaper.

I rolled my eyes at the vertical face of the front page. I still hadn't thought of a way to get my dad to give me the damn car. If only I'd managed to get my licence earlier, this whole thing would have been easier. It was turning out that ringing Rob would have been the better option, this was taking so long. Although no way did I want to have to disrupt Rob from work.

"Whad'you men nurrun cen go wiver?" asked Doug, incomprehensibly through a mouthful of cereal.

"Ew, Doug," I moaned, motioning to the numerous bits of cereal he had just managed to spray over the table. "Learn some table manners, man."

"Sorry," he apologised, reaching for a cloth, "Why can no one go with her?"

My dad sighed and took another sip from his mug of strong tea. It was the mug which says, "_World's Greatest Cook_" which I'd bought him for Christmas. He'd actually called it pretentious when I'd first given it him, but now I had a sneaking feeling that he kind of liked it.

"Your mother and I are working. Ruth's apparently unavailable and Mike's gone to college. And no way am I letting Jess out alone."

"What about me?" said Doug, surprisingly.

"What?" asked my dad, almost slamming the mug back down on the table.

"What about me?" repeated Doug, calmly. "I'm here today. I could go with Jess."

"But you haven't driven for ages," I burst out. I was seriously touched that he was willing to venture out with me. Really, seriously touched – my brother tries to avoid family outings as much as possible. But somehow I didn't think that Doug accompanying me on this trip would be the best arrangement.

"Doesn't mean I've forgotten how," replied Doug, a little defensively, "And I still have a licence."

"If you want to go," said my dad at last, clearly pleased, "That would be great."

Why did it have to be my dad who was handling this? If it had been my mum, she would have been too concerned and overprotective to even think about the arrangement.

"Ok," said Doug, "Jess, we can take my car. You drive me to school and I'll drive back."

Did he have to be so nice and thoughtful at the precise moment when it really wouldn't help?

"Thanks, but it's alright," I tried to keep any urgency out of my voice, "But honestly, there's no problem with me going alone. Dad, I'd be fine. Seriously."

Doug looked hurt. And that was the last thing I wanted to do. Hurt Doug's feelings, I mean. I fully appreciated what he'd offered. But there was no telling what kind of results him accompanying me could produce. I'm thinking along the lines of another Episode. And I wanted him to have one of those even less than I wanted to hurt his feelings.

It was a pretty tough, but necessary choice to make.

But it was still hard watching him eating his cereal with that dejected expression on his face. _It's not you_, I tried to convey with my thoughts_, it's_ _me and all the crap I have to do._ But of course, my psychic powers don't extend to telepathy so he just continued on looking sad.

Until my dad stepped in.

"Jessica," he hissed, angrily, "How dare you just reject your brother's offer like that? I'm not letting you out alone so I suggest you allow Doug to go withyou. You should be grateful."

I understood why my dad was angry. I guess he was pretty keen to help continue this recent 'good streak' Doug had been having. What with his job at the comic shop and his thing with Tasha, he was turning out pretty ok in my parents' eyes. I mean, not like he wasn't ok before. He was. But he was slightly... different and now he was doing all kinds of normal-ish things. Whatever. My dad clearly didn't want me to go crush this new found confidence.

I looked from my determined dad to the dejected Doug and gave an inward scream of frustration. It was so not the ideal situation, but Sean was in trouble and all that mattered was getting to him as soon as possible.

"Doug, it would be great if you came with me," I said, desperately grabbing for the keys, "But we have to go right now."

And pulling my shoes on, I headed for the door.

"Seriously," I said again, "Right now. Now come on."

Doug followed me into the foyer, followed by my dad. He watched from the doorway as Doug got into the passenger seat.

"Hang on," said my dad quickly, as I closed the door to the back seat, "Jess, why are you taking Chigger to school with you?"

"I'm letting him out for a run on the way," I invented wildly, "See you later. Bye!"

I threw myself into the front seat and simultaneously slammed the door while starting the engine. I reversed so neatly out of the drive that I kind of regretted the fact that there were no examiners around to watch. But only briefly. I had way bigger things to worry about.

Like the fact that I was now on my way to single-handedly rescue Sean. Or the fact that somehow I had to get Doug out the car, without making him suspicious.

"Whoa," said Doug as I sped off down the road, "You're in a hurry."

"What?" I asked, distractedly.

"I said you're in a hurry. As in going fast," repeated Doug.

"Hey," he said, as I didn't reply but kept my grim face trained on the road, "Jess, are you ok?"

I didn't reply. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure that I heard him. I was too busy trying to sort out all the different stuff I had to do. I mean, just thinking about one of them was causing me enough trouble. But thinking about it all together and trying to make them all work? Yeah, that was damn near impossible. I wasn't managing anything, but instead making myself more and more panicked. And panicked is not a good mood to be in whilst fronting a solo child rescue mission. Luckily, though, I'm a pretty good driver so I wasn't weaving all other the road, or whatever.

"Jess!" interrupted Doug, practically shouting now, "What's wrong? What's going on?"

"Nothing," I replied calmly, remembering that the last thing I wanted to do was make him Episode. "I'm driving you to school. I'm tired, is all."

"If you're driving me to school," he said sharply, "Why are you driving in the wrong direction?"

"Must have missed the turning," I answered, vaguely.

"If you missed the turning, why the hell aren't you turning round to go and take it again? This better be you driving somewhere to let Chigger out."

I sighed and quickly pulled the car up at the side of the road. I killed the engine and turned to face Doug.

"I suggest you get out the car now." I said, firmly.

"Are you nuts? It's miles to walk back now."

"Fine, I suggest you get out of the car once I drive you a little further back into town."

"And I still wouldn't get out then. You don't have a licence, remember? Jess, what's going on?"

I looked ahead at the road and drummed my fingers on the steering wheel. I wasn't sure whether to tell Doug the truth or not. I didn't want to worry him, for obvious reasons. But it was pretty clear that he wouldn't get out the car if I asked him. And I couldn't pretend that I was just driving ages away to another town simply for a random day trip. I was going to have to tell him. I'd already lost enough time and I needed to get there as soon as possible.

"Ok, Doug," I said, starting up the engine. "Sean has been kidnapped by some friends of his dad. I need to get to him. Soon. So you either get out the car now or I'm going to end up taking you all the way there. And I don't think that would be a good idea."

Doug widened his eyes a little, like he wasn't sure if he'd heard me right. But then he kind of slumped forward and groaned.

"Dear God, Jess. Can't you call the feds, or something? There's no way it's safe for you to go take all these guys on, on your own. You can't do this."

"I can and I am. The feds will just return him to his asshole of a dad. I have to get there right now. I mean it," I said, cutting off Doug's attempts at a protest, "I'm the only one who knows exactly where he is. There's no one else who can help. So you either get out the car now or you come all the way. I've already lost too much time."

Doug sat silently for a while and then his face seemed to harden.

"I'm coming. I'm not going to let my sister go off on some half-brained mission alone."

Immediately, I pulled the car back on the road and kicked up the speed. I bit my lip hard, so hard I could have drawn blood. I didn't see how this was going to affect Doug, but I hoped to God it wouldn't be in a bad way.

"So," began Doug, breaking the gloomy silence that fallen, "This your first time cutting school?"

"More or less," I answered, deciding to disregard the time me and Ruth had decided to go to some out of town concert.

In fact, when I think about it, I'm a damn good student. Well, apart from the whole beating people up and perpetually being in detention thing. In general, I don't cut class. And I was only doing it today to go save some kid's life. I do the work. Well, pretty much. I mean, occasionally, there are some really crap classes where it's just not worth listening. But I hand work they ask for in. And I'm getting by without the safeguard of being one of the school's sports stars.

Doug looked on interestedly as I swung the car for another right hand turn.

"How do you know where we're going?" he asked, curiously.

"I don't know, really," I answered honestly, "I just wake up and know. It's weird. I kind of instinctively know where to go. Just from my dream."

I broke off as I remembered the exact details of my dream. Well, of my nightmare.

"Who are the guys who have Sean?" asked Doug, breaking another silence.

I had been prepared for this question. Unfortunately, I didn't have the exact answer.

"I'm not sure," I confessed, "I mean, they're definitely in with Sean's dad. But I don't know if they're a gang or anything."

"Right, so we don't know how many of them there are?" said Doug, grimly voicing my thoughts.

"I guess," I said, forcing the words out with difficulty, "We'll have to see when we get there."

Doug nodded, clearly worried.

I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. He seemed fine so far. Worried, but then so was I. Only a fool wouldn't have been worried.

I urged the car to go just a little bit faster.

I was starting to wonder if this was such a good idea. I was driving with my episodic brother to go face an enemy I didn't know. No one knew where we were. I hadn't even told Ruth. Or - I thought, with a pang – Rob.

No, things did not look good.

In fact, I didn't think things could possibly get any worse.

But then, I'm a fool.

* * *

MWAHAHAHA. I finished another chapter! Be proud, even if it did suck. 

Please, please, please review. Tell me if you liked it and if you didn't.

Constructive criticism is very much appreciated, you know.


	11. Chapter Eleven

This story keeps getting weirder and weirder.

Menciones:

**flonshoe**: Hehehe, thanks. As soon as I think of a suitable title, I'll post the other one. But that could take some time...

**Anywien**: Yes, forgive me! Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**EasyTiger**: Thank you so much. For the compliments _and_ the cookies and chocolate. They keep me going. :D

**cassie89**: I know, I think Rob's got lost somewhere. But I'll try and find him again very, very soon...

**Living2Love**: I know, I'm starting to miss him too, and I write the damn thing! But thanks very much for reviewing and I hope you enjoy this chapter too...

**Angel Gemmam**: Hopefully, I'll clear up the cell phone thing in this chapter... Merci for the review and I hope you like this update.

**Mrs Nikki Slater**: Thanks for reviewing, hope you enjoy this.

**Finally**: I hope I didn't take too long with this update... Anyway, hope you like it.

**R**: Hehehe, thanks very much. And here is an update...

**Banana Yellow Flip-flops**: Realistic and Meg-sounding? Whoa, thank you very berry much. And reading over the last chapter, I completely get what you mean about the Jess' dad thing. You're right, I did put him largely out of character there and I'll try and fix it sometime. Thanks for reviewing!

**sexy-tease**: Jess should have done that. Except, maybe the people at the garage aren't the kind of people Rob would ask? I don't know, hope you enjoy this chapter anyway...

**Disclaimer: For the last time, I don't own it, ok? Meg Cabot does.**

* * *

I pulled the car up smoothly alongside the pavement of a pretty residential street. I'd never even visited this town before, but because of the whole psychic thing, I knew exactly where I was going. 

"Is this the house?" Doug whispered unnecessarily, staring out at the house we were parked beside.

"No, nimrod," I said, keeping my voice casual, "The actual house is the next street over. What, you thought I was just going to pull up outside and ring the doorbell?"

"You mean you have a plan?" asked Doug, with evident relief in his voice. Which was actually kind of weird, because normally Doug assumed any ideas I ever came up with were amateur and poor.

I bit my already poorly bruised lip. I hoped this wasn't going to become a habit – the whole lip biting thing. It was kind of painful. Plus, it probably made my lips look gross and I needed them to look as inviting as possible in hope that I can occasionally wear Rob down.

"So," prompted Doug, "What are we going to do?"

"Ok, Doug," I began, trying not to show any signs of panic or uncertainty. "There isn't a plan as such... but I'm getting there," I hoped. "I'm going to go over to the house and try and get to Sean. Meanwhile, you're going to take the car, find a payphone and call Rob."

"Jess, that plan sucks." See? "Firstly, you really think I'm just going to let you go waltz into some evil man's house on your own? Secondly, what makes you think Rob is going to be so much help? I mean, I know he's your boyfriend but he's hardly going to be more effective than the feds. You need a proper plan."

"There's no time. I've done the whole 'infiltrating evil people's places before'. Remember Jim Henderson?"

"Yeah, and we all ended up down at the hospital," interrupted Doug.

"And I already told you we can't go to the feds," I continued, ignoring him, "Rob is the best bet. Seriously, he has loads of friends who can help."

"Really?" asked Doug, suspiciously, "What kind of friends?"

"Grits," I answered simply, "They helped bust me out of Crane, and they saved my life from the True Americans. Like I said, they're the ones who can help."

I just hoped they'd be prepared to help us again.

I looked over at Doug and he still didn't seem inclined to move.

"Come on!" I whined, "Seriously, Doug, we need to start moving now. I've got to go get to Sean and you've got to call up Rob. Here," I scribbled Rob's number on the back of Doug's hand with some crappy biro, "Now get moving."

I got out the car, marched over to his side and yanked his door open so he could get out. Not looking happy at all, Doug resignedly got up. I walked him over to the driver's seat, keeping a running commentary about how I was going to be fine, so long as he got reinforcements as soon as possible.

I just hoped it was true.

Just before Doug sat back down again, he suddenly pulled me into a strong and protective hug. And even though it was a little weird, it was really comforting.

"You know," I said, when he released me, "I'm actually kind of glad you're here, now."

Doug smiled grimly. "Jess, you've met Sean's father before, haven't you? He knows who you are."

"Well, we'll just have to hope he's not there," I grinned broadly and probably rather inanely.

Doug just stared at me.

I guess it must have been a bit of a shock to see me acting like everything was hunky dory, when I was about to face a load of dangerous men. But he's my brother. He should be used to my weirdness by now, right?

"I'll be fine," I said quietly. It was kind of obvious that I was trying to convince myself as well as him.

"You better be," Doug threatened me as he slid into the driver's seat, "Mom'll kill me. I'll see you again very soon."

And he started the engine and drove off real fast. Just as fast as I would have done if I'd known one of my brothers was about to be in some pretty serious trouble.

I stood staring after Doug's car for a while, hoping that he was going to manage everything ok.

But then, you know, I realised that I was just standing there doing nothing. And I'd already left Sean for way too long. So I immediately turned around and headed off in the direction of the house.

As I was doing so, I suddenly realised that I'd completely forgotten to tell Doug exactly which house I was going to.

Which just proves how completely moronic I am.

But I tried not to let that completely awful bombshell faze me. So I continued walking in the right direction.

Unfortunately, I was the only one who _knew_ it was the right direction.

I was still trying to work out exactly how I was going to let Rob and everyone – assuming Doug got them to come – know where I would be, when I realised I was standing at the gate of the right house.

I blinked a bit in surprise – I had no idea I'd been walking so fast. But I ignored my shock, pushed open the gate, walked up the path and rang the doorbell.

And you know what? Even though I did all that, I had no plan. No plan at all.

Patience has never been my strongpoint. Which is probably why I've always had a problem choosing calm discussions over fighting.

I looked around me while I waited for someone to answer the door. Instead of trying to figure out what I would do in the event of someone letting me in, I was looking at the house and thinking, "Whoa, for a kidnapper's house, it's actually kind of pretty." There was a kid's bike in the front garden and the grass had been cut really nicely.

I was thinking all this; when the door suddenly swung open.

"Hello," I began, in my best girl guide voice, "I'm really sorry for bothering you like this, but I'm afraid-"

The words died on my lips when I saw who was at the door.

You know when you spend a long time preparing yourself for one thing you think is going to be awful – say, a family event? Something you really don't want to do, but know there's no way you can get out of it - and you spend your whole time predicting how awful it's going to be and how you'd rather be getting fillings at the dentist? So you go, and it turns out that actually, this family event is pretty fun. Still awkward and occasionally uncomfortable, but nowhere near as bad as you thought. You know what I mean?

Yeah, well that's exactly how I felt when the woman opened the door and smiled down at me.

I had been expecting strong, tough men – maybe armed with guns and scars running along the length of their faces.

Instead, I was faced with a homely looking, middle-aged woman, who was smiling at me in a positively motherly way. And, she was most definitely not wearing a kerchief.

To say I was relieved would be a major understatement. But I was also confused. Way confused.

"What did you want, dear?" she asked, patiently.

"Uh... Oh. Uh, ma'am, my car broke down a little way down the street and I wondered if I could use your telephone. If it's not too much trouble, of course."

"Oh no, of course not, I'd be happy to help. Now just come on in."

Completely bemused, I followed her in. I felt like I was intruding on Sean's visit to his grandma. It didn't fit in with the vision I'd had at all.

"I chose this house," I said, continuing on in the same polite tone, "because you had the children's toys in the yard. I figured this would be a safer bet."

"That's right," said the woman, leading me into the lounge where there was a phone on a little table, "You never can be too careful. Now you use the phone all you want and then come join me in the kitchen when you're ready. It's just down the hall."

And then, unbelievably, she left the room. Now let me tell you, if some person randomly knocked on my door and asked to use my phone, I would so not leave them in a room alone. Not even if they were a vertically challenged girl like me. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a harsh and untrusting snob. It's just, you never know, right? For all she knew, I could be grabbing her family silver and throwing myself out the window.

Although looking around the sparsely furnished room, I wouldn't say there was a lot of silver going.

Whatever. I finished my musings and hastened over to the phone. You can never be sure who's listening – for instance I could have sworn I saw the eyes of the painting following me around the room. Although, you know, that could have been going a little far.

Anyway, I was not going to be stupid enough to ring someone up going, "Hey, it's Jess, I've come to save Sean! I'm at 39 blah-blah street..."

No, I would not be doing that. Instead I would employ a way more subtle method.

I hadn't taken too long to get inside the house, so I hoped that there was a still a chance for me to communicate the information about where I was.

So I picked up the phone and dialled Ruth's cell-phone number.

I know! If only my parents had done what nearly every other decent parent had, and bought me my own cell phone, I would not be having the problems I was currently experiencing. I mean, you would have thought, that for a girl who is known to randomly go off and rescue little kids, a cell phone is a necessity. But clearly, this was not a vein of thought my parents shared. Which was a pity, considering how much simpler everything could have been.

I listened anxiously to the phone ringing, whilst mentally willing Ruth to pick up – too bad my physic powers couldn't travel over phone lines. Hey, I wouldn't even need a cell phone then.

"Hello?"

"Ruth!" I called out in relief.

"Jess is that you? Oh my God, where _are_ you? Don't you think for a minute that you've got away with skipping school today. I mean, I fully covered for you, but I'm guessing you don't have a good reason. Did you forget we had an English test today? And what about our shopping trip after school? I swear, I am going to kill you if I find out you bailed on me to go see That -"

"Ruth," I interrupted, calmly, "Good to hear you. Listen, could you possibly call my _mechanic_ and tell him that my car's _broken down."_ I quickly gave her the address of the street and then casually mentioned the house I was in. "It would be great if you could do that for me, because I need this car fixed as soon as possible."

"Jess, oh my God, what are you doing? You're such a headcase, you need a psychiatrist or something. Seriously. I mean, what do you think you're-"

"Ruth!" I interrupted again, with a little more urgency in my voice, "I really need you to do this for me. Now."

Ruth went surprisingly quiet.

"Are you in trouble?"

"Of course I am," I answered cheerfully. "If you could do that for me, you would be a total life saver. Well I have to go now because I'm using someone else's phone. Ok, bye!"

I then replaced the phone carefully back on the hook and hoped Ruth had gotten the message. Which she would have done. For a start, my message was not exactly hard to understand. Plus, considering Ruth's IQ is the highest out of nearly everyone I know, she was hardly gong to have a hard time figuring it out.

And I didn't need to worry about her getting Rob's number or anything. Ever since she got her phone, I'd used it so many times that I'd actually gone and programmed his number in. Well, numbers. His home one and the garage one. And no, Ruth most certainly did not approve. But she couldn't complain now, considering it was going to come in pretty useful.

When I'd composed myself back into the cheerful 'good little girl' mode, I got up to join the woman down the hall, in the kitchen.

"Come on in," she called cheerfully, when I stood a little nervously in the doorway, "Did you get through to everyone you needed to?"

"Uh, yes. Thanks, ma'am," I said politely, as I joined her in the kitchen where she'd thoughtfully laid out cookies. Seriously.

This day could definitely not get any weirder.

"Oh please, dear, call me Mary."

Ok, now that was way upsetting. I was already confused enough about her being here rather than a load of snarling men. Having her share a name with my future mother-in-law was almost going too far.

"Sure, ma- Mary. This really is awfully kind of you."

"Oh it's nothing," she said, modestly, motioning for me to sit down at the table, "It's nice to have a little company during the day. Normally I have my hands full with the kids, but it makes a nice change to have an adult to talk to."

The idea that she saw me as an adult was somewhat questionable, but I decided to let it slip.

"So you look after kids?" I asked, taking one of the cookies she offered me.

"Oh yes, I have my grandchildren here, and a few children from along the street. Mainly the children of people who work."

I nodded understandingly, taking a bite of the cookie. Man, it was good. All moist and chocolately in equal amounts. It was so good, it had to be poisoned. And even if it was, it didn't seem like such a bad way to go. Death By The Perfect Cookie. Mmmm.

"How many children do you have?" I tried to keep my voice mildly interested, rather than interrogatory. "I love children," I added.

"Well, today I have six. Three are down for a nap, two are playing out the back and one's in their room, drawing."

"It must be nice, working with children."

"Oh, it is," the lady's face visibly softened. It was a rather heart-warming sight, actually, "It really is one of the best jobs you can have. Trying to keep the children safe. But there's not much money in that, mind you."

Her eyes filled with tears slightly, and she looked sadly down into her cup of tea.

Slightly uncomfortable at the sight of a woman who was overcome with emotion about looking after children, I rose to my feet quickly.

"Uh, do you have a bathroom I can use?"

What? It had worked before...

She happily gave me directions – up the stairs and last door on the left.

I left the kitchen and slowly climbed the scruffily carpeted stairs. There were loads of grubby hand marks on the walls. You know, the kind children make when they're too young to use the banister properly? Yeah, they used to drive my mom mad. But clearly Mary didn't mind them too much, because she hadn't made any effort to wipe them off or anything.

The bathroom was small, cramped and pretty messy. Yeah, so I actually had to go. There were kid's toys all around the side of the bath.

When I came out, I went and tried the door opposite. It was clearly Mary's bedroom. And clearly the room of a lonely, single woman. I was starting to feel way sorry for her. Not wanting to invade too much on her privacy, I closed the door and moved on to the next door along.

Inside, was a small child, sitting in the middle of the floor. There were a few drawings lying on the floor beside her, but she'd clearly progressed on to playing with building blocks.

Since I've spent quite a lot of time with kids after developing my powers, I've got pretty good at talking to them.

So I crouched down, just inside the doorway and said, "Hello, there. Wow, this is a nice room. Why are you up here by yourself?"

The little girl turned the attention of her large brown eyes from her tower, to me.

"I haven't been bad." she said, quickly.

"I'm sure you haven't. I guess you just wanted to stay in this pretty room, rather than playing with the other kids, huh?"

"Well," said the girl thoughtfully, placing another building block on the top of the tower, "There isn't anyone I want to play with. Except the new boy, but I can't pay with him."

"New boy?" I asked, instantly curious, "What new boy is that?"

She looked at me again. "The new boy. He's a lot older, but I can't play with him."

"And why can't you play with him?"

"Because his door is locked. Auntie Mary said he was bad, so he had to be locked in."

* * *

DUN DUN DUN. 

Another chapter. It got us nowhere, but it's another chapter.

Now please, make my day and review.

Please?

(Oh, and please don't desert me 'cos there's no Rob...)


	12. Chapter Twelve

**A/N **No, you're not going mad: I genuinely have updated. This is an actual update.

I thought you guys had been waiting long enough and deserved a little something. But in my defence, my parents enforced a Great Internet Ban during my GCSEs, so I couldn't actually update. It was physically impossible.

Anyway, here is an update for all those amazing reviewers who read this story. I doubt anyone remembers it, but if you do, this is for you. (And the dedication even rhymes...)

**Disclaimer**: Most definitely not mine. Unfortunately.

* * *

I stood staring at the door in disbelief. I mean, these were supposed to be regular bad guys, but they'd gone and left the key in the lock. 

Looking back quickly at the little girl, who was watching anxiously from just outside her door, I turned the key. With a click the lock undid and I slipped quickly into the room.

Inside, it was kind of gloomy. Probably because of the bars on the window. I kid you not. There were actual bars on the window. The windows hadn't been washed for a while. Maybe because there were bars, someone just assumed that a load of dust on the glass didn't matter. Or maybe they just thought that having both bars and no light from outside would give the room a more miserable feel. Who knows?

Sitting dejectedly on a little camp bed by the window, was Sean.

The guy was so depressed that he didn't even look up when I entered the room. Or maybe he didn't want me to see that he'd been crying. A lot.

"Hey," I said quietly, walking quickly over to him, "Hey, Sean. I'm here."

"Jess," said Sean, his voice shaking, fiercely rubbing at his eyes, "I thought you'd come."

"Yeah, well, I was in the area and thought I'd drop in. What happened?" I asked, coming and sitting next to him.

"My dad," began Sean, "My dad..."

And then he started sobbing. I swear I had no idea what to do. I mean, I can do the whole talking to little kids thing. And I'm pretty damn good when it comes to beating up bad guys. But comfort a sobbing teenager? Yeah, slightly beyond me. But be that as it may, I compensated by putting my arms around him and making - what I hoped - were calming and comforting noises.

"Ok, Sean," I said, "everything's gonna be fine, just like it was before. I just need you to tell me what the hell is going on, so I can figure out a way to get us out of here."

Just when he seemed recovered enough to form coherent sentences, the door was thrown open.

I kind of jumped when that happened. I'd been so absorbed in comforting Sean, and trying to overcome my awkwardness, that I think some of the urgency of the situation had escaped me. But when I looked up and saw Mary standing in the doorway, I relaxed a little.

"Hey, Mary," I said, "I heard crying in this room and, you know, thought I'd have a look. I'm sorry for being nosey, but he just sounded so sad." I gave what I hoped was an apologetic and convincing smile.

However, this seemed to have no effect on Mary whatsoever.

She remained standing solidly in the doorway, staring at me with my arms round Sean. This, I admit, started to freak me out, so I removed my arms from Sean's shoulders and stood up.

"Um, sorry," I said, coming towards her, "I realise it wasn't my place or anything. I just hate kids crying. I mean, opening the locked door was obviously taking a liberty, but I just..." I frowned, "Well, to be honest, I always thought locking small kids in their rooms was wrong."

Mary seemed completely unmoved my my speech.

"Who did you call?" she demanded.

"Call?" I repeated, stupidly.

"Yes, dear, the one you made when I first let you in. Whom was it to?"

I narrowed my eyes at her. She was still calling me 'dear' but there was something not right about the way she was acting.

"Just to my friend," I answered, innococently, "To get help with the car, like I told you."

"Don't lie," said Mary, sadly, "It's not a very nice habit. They warned me you might come. I wasn't sure it was you till you came in here."

I stared at her. "You mean _you _locked Sean in here? You're supposed to be a freaking childminder!" Only I didn't say 'freaking'. I know, I know. I was stooping to foul language in a house full of kids. But I was pretty frustrated.

Mary flinched at my choice of language. "Please," she said with a pained expression on her face. "Yes, I am a childminder."

"Uh, excuse Mary, but last I heard, locking kids up in dirty rooms with barred windows is not something childminders do."

Mary just continued smiling at me, sadly.

"I am a childminder, but like I said, it doesn't pay well at all. I couldn't afford to keep this house, just by caring for small kids."

"So you're holding Sean here for money?" I asked, "But I don't get it. Why _here_? I mean, no offence, but this doesn't strike me as the perfect hideout for someone as rich as Sean's dad."

"When my son asks me for help, I give it," Mary simply replied, "And he gives me money in return."

I blinked at her, possibly doing an imitation of my mom's goldfish expression. Then it dawned on me and my jaw nearly hit the damn floor.

"Whoa," I said, turning to look at Sean real fast, "This is your _grandma_?"

"Yep," confirmed Sean, miserably.

"Jesus," I beathed, "I've got to say, Sean, you are one seriously unlucky kid. I mean, is everyone on your dad's side of the family psychotic?"

"Pretty much," answered Sean, "Especially my dad and _her_."

"Now that is one family reunion I would hate to attend," I said, shaking my head in disbelief.

"When you've finished insulting my family," said Mary, quietly.

I peered at her. I saw my mistake now. I'd assumed she was all homely and motherly. But actually, she was one of those creepy people who act all calm and normal but turn out to be completely insane. Not really the kind of person you want holding you hostage.

"My son will be pleased," continued Evil Mary, a rather frightening smile taking over her face, "It really is so convenienet having both of you here."

"Are you sure?" I asked, "Because I would honestly hate for you to go to any trouble to accommodate us both. I mean, this must all be really stressful, what with having to run a childminding business and hold kids hostage. It must get pretty hectic."

"It's fine," said Evil Mary, who was clearly immune to sarcasm - it figured; people like her generally are, I have found - "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other business to attend to. It would be nice, if you could keep quiet so as not to disturb the others."

"Other children or other hostages?" I called after her, as she locked the door.

Damn. You would have thought, that with all my experience, I would have known to have taken the key from the lock on the outside. But no. Clearly I am as completely clueless as I was when I started out. I heard the key click in the lock and muffled a groan.

"So," I said, smiling brightly at Sean, "this situation seems fairly familiar. Me, you, locked in a room with barred windows..."

Sean stared at me bleakly.

"Don't worry," I said, flopping down next to him on the pokey camp bad, "It's all gonna be fine."

In response, Sean said a very bad word which I will refrain from recording.

"Hey," I admonished, "there is really no call for that."

"Why not?" asked Sean sulkily, "I'm a teenager now. Besides, your language was worse a minute ago."

"That happened to be a tactic to confuse the enemy." I covered, smoothly.

Sean snorted. "Lot of good that did us. My dad's gonna be here soon and then we're for it. There's nothing we can do. I'm gonna go back to my dad's and he'll probably kill you."

"Oh, thanks, Sunshine," I said, sarcastically, "You're really helping the situation. Anyway, before you get too cheerful, I thought I should mention that I've hopefully managed to get a message to Rob and he should be on his way. With friends."

"What do you mean 'hopefully'?" demanded Sean, narrowing his eyes at me. I had to hand it to him, the kid sure was quick.

"I mean that I didn't manage to speak to him _directly_, but I have two trusted people passing messages on to him for me."

Sean seemed to consider this for a moment, before slumping forwards again.

"Whatever. They'll never get here in time."

"Oh, shut up, Sean," I said wearily. I mean, I love the kid and all, but his gloomy pronouncements were getting just a little bit trying, you know?

I stalked over to the door and just for the hell of it, pounded on the wood.

"For God's sake!" I yelled - well, screamed, more like - "Let us out!"

Sean sat bot upright and stared at me like I was mental.

"What the hell did you do that for?" he demanded.

"One," I replied, returning back to the bed, "she told us to be quiet and not wake up the kids. Right now, I relish the idea of her struggling with a load of howling babies. And two, the more noise I make, the less suspicious they'll get. It's like, if we make noise, they'll think that's all we're capable of, when actually..."

"It is," finished Sean.

I punched him gently in the shoulder and rolled my eyes.

"Jeez," I sighed, "when did you stop being fun? You used to be a whole lot better company than this."

He was just opening his mouth to apologise when I shushed him.

I walked slowly over to the door and crouched down. Had I been mistaken or had I just heard some soft footsteps?

"Hey," I called softly through the door, "Who's that?"

There was a charged pause where you just knew someone was deciding whether or not to speak, and then the sound of someone shuffling closer.

"It's the girl you talked to earlier," came the reply, a beautiful reply. "I was building a tower."

"That's right," I answered patiently, "A real good tower, I remember. Listen, there was an accident and some silly person's locked me in here by mistake. It was the crazy woman from downstairs."

The little girl giggled nervously. "You shouldn't say she's crazy," she said.

"Sorry," I apologised, "You seem like a clever girl. Do you think you could unlock the door for me?"

"Of course I can," answered the girl, sounding pleased, "She always leaves the key in the lock."

Luckily for me, it seemed that Evil Mary had made the same mistake I had. I grinned with relief and sat back from the door.

I heard the breathing of the little girl on the other side and then the beautiful, beautiful click of the door unlocking. Have I ever mentioned just how much I love kids?

The door opened, and the little girl stood on the other side, smiling shyly at me.

"You," I said, giving her a quick hug, "are the best little girl I have ever met." A huge grin split her face and I asked, "What's your name?"

"Jessica," she replied, quietly.

I blinked. This was actually starting to freak me out. First the psychotic grandma shares the name of my future mother-in-law and then the little girl has my name? Next I'd be bumping into a Rob. Although, I fervently hoped that if I did so, it would be Rob Wilkins and not some other guy.

"Jessica?" I repeated, "That's my name too!"

The little girl looked delighted with the news and I felt kind of stoked. You know, that this little girl was pleased to have the same name as me. Why, I can't imagine. I mean, I hadn't actually done anything impressive. In fact, I'd been pretty useless; getting myself locked up.

"Listen, Jessica," I said, silently motioning Sean out the door, "I think you should go back to your room now. Why don't we keep this a secret between us two?"

"A secret?" whispered Jessica, her brown eyes sparkling.

"That's right," I nodded, leaving the room and locking the door again. "You'd better go back to your room."

"Ok," she nodded happily. "Is his mommy going to take him home?" she asked, looking at Sean.

"You know where his mom is?" I asked, looking at her, quickly.

"Well," she began, biting her lip, "there was a woman," she whispered, "I saw them take a woman down into the basement. I wasn't supposed to see, but I was playing hide and seek under the kitchen table."

"So the basement leads off from the kitchen?" I asked, quickly.

"Yeah," said Jessica, fixing her brown eyes on me.

"Thank you, Jessica, you really have to get to your room, now," I said, giving her a small push in the small of her back, "And you shouldn't really come out until your mommy comes to get you. And when she does," I added, as an afterthought, "why not tell her you want a new childminder?"

Jessica nodded at me, and then toddled off back to her room.

She was a cute kid and suddenly, I was really proud that I had the same name as her. Or she had the same name as me. Whatever. It was stupid, I know, but it still gave me this little pleased feeling. But I quickly pushed it back down. I had way more important things to attend to.

I looked over at Sean, who was standing in the corridor, completely tensed. We were standing pressed against the wall, to the side of the stairs.

"Ok," I whispered, softly, "We have a problem."

"You're telling me," bit back Sean.

"And that won't help," I warned, "Basically, we need to get down and out. I'm guessing that she's the kind of woman who either spends a long time in the siting room watching TV, or in the kitchen making cookies." I remembered the cookies wistfully. Just goes to show; never judge a woman by her baking. "Neither of those rooms look directly onto the stairway, as I remember."

"You think we can just go down the stairs and walk out?" hissed Sean, looking at me like I was demented.

"Well, yeah," I answered.

"And what," demanded Sean, "about my mom?"

"I'll take care of that," I answered, sounding way more confident than I felt. "I got a good look at the basement door while your grandma was feeding me cookies."

Before he could protest, I motioned for him to be quiet and started edging my way slowly to the edge of the stairs. Then I began slowly creeping down the stairs. I like to think that due to my many night time escapades - sadly, more of the dangerous-beating-bad-guys variety rather than sneaking-out-to-meet-my-hot-boyfriend kind - I have become pretty adept at descending staircases at night. And who knows? Maybe that lightning bolt, happened to give me ESP when it comes to finding creaky steps. Because I swear, while I was descending Evil Mary's staircase, I didn't step on a single creaky step. Which is kind of impressive, I'm sure you'll agree.

With Sean following closely on my heels, we soon reached the last step and from there, it was a clear run to the front door. Clearly, Evil Mary didn't feel that much threat from burglars or anything, because the door wasn't heavily protected, or anything. Just two bolts and a normal lock thing. Plus, both the bolts were unlocked on account of it still being day time. This seemed to be one of the easiest rescue missions I'd undertaken.

I hurried over to the door and got it unlocked as fast as I could. Then I yanked it open, trying not to alert Evil Mary. Although to be honest, I wasn't too concerned about waking her up, or anything. I was pretty sure I could take her.

You can imagine my delight when I opened the door and saw Rob pulling up on his Indian, right outside the door. Talk about perfect timing. I could not believe my luck.

However, I barely had time to register the heart warming sight of fellow detentionee, Wendall, pulling up alongside Rob and shove Sean out the door, before I heard a slight cough behind me.

I rolled my eyes and turned around.

Evil Mary was standing with her arms folded in the kitchen doorway, flanked by two rather beefy looking men.

* * *

And now, for old times' sake, for new times' sake, please, please review! 


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**A/N**: Another update for the lovely people who are still with me. Due to my obscenely long lapses in between updating, I seem to have lost some of the reviewers. Which is entirely understandable, but also kind of sad… Anyway, here's another chapter for all those beautiful reviewers. Thanks guys. :D

**Disclaimer**: All belongs to Meg Cabot.

* * *

"Aw, Jeez," I sighed, "When did they get here?" 

I was faintly alarmed to hear two loud footsteps coming up behind me and a door slam.

Great, all exits blocked. Where the hell was the emergency one?

But more importantly than that, I couldn't remember if I'd heard one of the bikes pull away. I mean, I hardly thought Rob would leave me behind, but I wanted to know that Sean was safe. And if some guy had just entered the house behind me, what had they done to Rob? I hadn't seen anyone outside when I had opened the door a second ago, so the guy most have come up the path, or something. Straight past Rob. And he would hardly have been unnoticeable sitting right outside on his Indian, watching the house.

I turned my body to the side so that I could see both Evil Mary and the man behind me at the same time. The guy behind was your regular hoodlum. Big, strong and dopey looking, with longish, shaggy hair. The one to Evil Mary's left had an actual scar running down his cheek, while the guy on her right had cruel, but intelligent eyes. I could tell that he was the one to look out for.

"Ok, ok," I said, "You got me. Is this the part where I say, 'take me to your leader'? Or would you rather just lock me in the basement or something?"

"I told you," said Evil Mary to the two men beside her, "She's a mouthy little thing. But she'll soon find out that in so many cases, words are useless."

"I don't know," I said, thoughtfully, considering it, "You may be right. But they sure do sound good."

Next to me, I could see that Dopey was getting rather agitated: I guess he hadn't pounded someone for a while and decided that a teenage girl would do just as well. But I was ready for him when he stepped forward and I smartly sank my left elbow into his stomach. He doubled up, wheezing and I know you should never kick a good man while he's down, but I was very confident that Dopey was not a 'good man'. I kicked him again for good measure. While this was highly satisfying, it unfortunately blocked my access to the front door, on account of his body filling the doorway. But you know what they say: sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the good things in life.

I was only able to stare at the wheezing Dopey in satisfaction for a few seconds, because after that, Scarface planted two big hands on either side of my waist and lifted me up. It's times like these when I resent the fact that I am so small and light. Still, I didn't make it easy for him. I made sure I was wriggling, kicking and flailing my arms enough for him to not want to pick me up again. As far as I'm concerned, there is only one guy who should be able to sweep me off my feet.

"Violent, too," said Evil Mary, disapprovingly, "Your parents must be ashamed of you."

"No," I said, with some difficulty, because Scarface was still holding me, "My parents are proud of me because I stand up to scumbags like you guys."

"Well," said Cruel Eyes, with some amusement, "You're not exactly 'standing up' to us, now, are you?"

Oh, excuse me, while I die laughing.

Unfortunately, Evil Mary and her henchmen seemed to find this hysterical. I guess being evil really messes up your sense of humour, because they carried on laughing all the way into the kitchen, and right up to the basement door. It was way annoying. I mean, Scarface had this really weird, guttural 'haw-haw' laugh going on, while Cruel Eyes' was really high pitched. Almost girly, actually.

I would have continued contemplating their laughs, except they threw open the basement door and shoved me inside. The door was then slammed shut behind me, plunging me into absolute darkness. The dark I could deal with. It was the sound of a key turning in the lock behind me that I didn't like.

"Gee," I said, through the now locked door, "You're really outdoing yourselves on the hospitality front."

Sighing, I began to unsteadily make my way down the creaky, basement steps. At this point, I was kind of glad that it was pitch black, simply because it meant I couldn't see what kind of a state the basement was in. Hey, I'd seen how she kept the bedroom - God only knew what the _basement _would be like.

"Hey," I called, softly, as I reached the bottom of the steps, "Mrs O'Hanahan? Are you down here?"

"Jess!" came the disembodied voice of Sean's mom, "Is that you?"

"Yep," I answered, relieved that she was down there. To be honest, I had never been thrilled by the thought of being alone in a pitch-black basement, "Hang on, I'm going to try and make my way over to you."

With my hands out in front of me, I slowly headed over to where I thought her voice had been coming from.

"Are there no lights in here?" I asked, still feeling my way across the room.

"No, I'm afraid not. I've already looked. I'm by the window," she added, helpfully.

I paused, "Window?" Was she serious? There couldn't have been a window - there was absolutely no light in that basement, whatsoever.

"Yeah," she answered.

I looked around, struggling to see through all the black, and then saw it - one corner of the basement where the dark was just a little less black. I made for it, with my arms still outstretched until I suddenly felt her hands grasp mine.

"Jess," she said, urgently, "What on earth are you doing here?"

"I came for you guys," I answered, simply.

"You shouldn't have, it's far too dangerous," I heard the concern in her voice and was kind of touched, "What about Sean? Is he ok?"

"I managed to get him out the front door," I answered, biting my lip, "My friends were waiting outside, but I got caught before I could see him off. I hope he got away, though."

"Don't worry," comforted Sean's mom, "I'm sure he did. You've done so much for us, Jess."

"It was nothing," I said, modestly. "Still, I'm glad you're ok. Or as ok as you can be, I guess. I still don't know exactly what happened, though. And what about your friend you were supposed to be coming to rescue?"

"That'll have to wait till later," she said, shortly but not unkindly, "Right now, we really need to find a way out and back to Sean."

I looked around me, and found that my eyes were adjusting slightly more to the dark. Especially by the window, I was able to make out some gloomy shapes. The window itself wasn't all that big. And, clearly, childminding took up so much of Evil Mary's time, she had absolutely none left for cleaning. Because that window was beyond filthy. Seriously, it was disgusting. And I'm not normally particularly squeamish.

"Any idea where the window leads to?" I asked, hopefully.

"None," she answered, "It's too dirty to see anything out of. But I'd imagine it'll be just above the ground, judging by the light."

"And," I said, thinking hard, "It's probably round by the side of the house, judging by the position of the kitchen… We should try and open it."

"Already tried," said Sean's mom, sadly, "I couldn't move it at all. It's been really firmly jammed."

"Probably by dirt," I said, grimly. "Still, maybe it'll be better with two? And I'm stronger than I look."

Straining, we both reached up - I could only just reach the window - and braced our hands against the glass. I tried really hard not to think about what I was touching. Then we pushed as hard as we could.

Nothing. The window didn't give the slightest bit. We adjusted the latch and pushed again, but it still didn't budge.

Breathing heavily from the effort, we eventually stopped and kind of slumped down, leaning against a large packing case.

"Well," I said, tiredly, "Looks like we'll need a plan B."

"And what's that?" asked Sean's mom.

It was slightly weird how I was there with an adult, and it was me who was calling the shots. But then, I guess I had done this kind of thing before. Not on quite this scale, no, but still. Escaping from captivity was probably more my field of expertise.

"I suppose we could try and make a break for it when they next open the door. You know - be there waiting. It's worked before. And because the door's at the top of some stairs, they probably wouldn't be expecting it."

"Would that work?" she asked, anxiously.

"I'm not sure," I admitted, "but it's better than doing nothing."

"So," said Mrs. O'Hanahan, "You're suggesting we just go crouch at the top of the stairs until they next open the door?"

"Yeah," I said, somewhat lamely, "I know it's not the most promising idea, but it's the best I've got."

"You're right," she said, resignedly, "It's better than nothing. And for Sean's sake, we've got to try."

I smiled at her. I mean, I knew she couldn't see my face in the dark, or anything, but I still smiled because she was such a great mom. She hadn't once complained about herself or the situation she was in. She just wanted to get out and get her son back. I'd like to think that my mom would be the same. Although, she'd probably have a really hard time overlooking all the dirt in the basement.

Thinking about my mom, meant my mind kind of automatically turned to Doug. I wondered where he was and if he was freaking out about the situation. I desperately hoped he wasn't. I mean, it was obvious that a message had been got to Rob, judging by the fact that he had been waiting outside. But the problem was, I had sent him two messages. And so I didn't know if he had got both of them. I didn't know whether he had only talked to Ruth, to get the address, or if Doug had talked to him before that. It was kind of hard, actually. I mean, I was stuck in a pitch-black basement, worrying about whether Sean was ok, and at the same time, I was wondering whether my actions had caused my brother to Episode. But, then, being me has never been easy…

Next to me, Sean's mom had stood up.

"We better go, then," she said, "And be ready and waiting."

"Yeah," I agreed, standing up, too.

I wanted to mention the fact that Rob knew where I was. And so would probably come and rescue me. But at the same time, I felt kind of shy about it. Because for starters, I didn't want to get into the kind of territory where I'd be declaring, 'Rob really cares for me and won't rest till he finds me!' Because that kind of thing's always lame, however much I want it to be true. And secondly, because I didn't want to raise Mrs. O's hopes. I mean, what if Rob had been captured? And though I hoped to God he hadn't been, he wouldn't be able to rescue us if he had. As you can see, I was pretty wrapped up in difficult thoughts by this point. I swear I never used to think this much.

At the top of the staircase, Sean's mom and I quietly hunted around for a suitable place to hide. I have to say, there was not a lot of choice - luxury basement this place was not. The area just outside the door was pretty limited and there was absolutely no light to guide us. Although the darkness might have worked in our favour, if they opened the door, at the same time it could have worked against us. Because if they had thrown open the door and thrown on a light switch - if there was one - we didn't know which bits would stay in shadow and which would be lit up. So we had to content ourselves with precariously balancing just to the left of the doorframe. At this point, I was starting to dislike my plan. Simply because I had no idea how long it would be before they decided to come and check on us. And till then, we had to balance at the top of the stairs, staying alert. And what if they never checked on us?

"You ok?" whispered Mrs. O.

"I'm fine," I answered, equally quietly, "I think. You?"

"Yeah," she replied, he voice tired.

I had a thought then - "How long have you been down here?" I asked.

"I don't really know," she admitted, "It's hard to tell. But long enough. Anyway, we should probably be quiet now…"

I obliged and shut up. But I was still pretty worried. I didn't know how long she had been down there. And if she had been down there for ages, she would probably have been pretty tired. I mean, it wasn't like there were a lot of places to sleep or anything. Plus, had she been given any food? I wanted to ask her all those things, but she was right about keeping quiet, so I bit my tongue. Something I ought to do more often, I sometimes feel.

Anyway, we had been standing there for a quite a while. My brain was starting to switch itself off and it require a lot of effort to keep it on. My legs were slowing turning numb, which worried me quite a lot, in case I had to fight my way out. I would have been pretty useless if I had turned to punch and then had my legs give way underneath me. Once again, I would fail to 'stand up' to them. Ha. Ha. They would have had a field day with that one.

It was at this point of my brain death when I heard a strange noise coming from the basement below. I turned my head slightly so I could hear it better. I felt, rather than saw, Mrs. O. turn her head towards me, quizzically.

"Did you hear it?" I whispered.

"Hear what?" she asked, in reply.

"A noise from downstairs, like.." I heard it again.

"Oh," said Sean's mom, "Yeah, I heard it too, that time. What do you think it is?"

"Let's take a look," I said, stepping out from my hiding position.

I could tell that Mrs. O was kind of reluctant to leave our hiding place without any result. Especially when we had been standing there for such a long time. But I guess, in the end, good old curiosity won out, because she followed me down the stairs.

In the main, lower part of the basement I stood and listened. I waited till the noise - a kind of scraping, metal-on-metal kind of noise - happened again and then I swiftly turned in the direction of it, to try and pinpoint it.

I grinned as I realised the sound was coming from the area by the window.

I moved slowly towards it, though. Partly because I wasn't sure if the noise was just the bad guys messing around outside, and partly because I could barely see a thing, even with my adjusted vision.

As I got closer, I realised that the noise was coming from right by the windows. Or, more accurately, right _from_ the window. As in, someone was doing something to the window in order to make the noise… And because it seemed kind of obvious that no one on Evil Mary's side had ever felt the inclination to touch that basement window before, I started getting hopeful. You know, that the person messing around with the window was more likely to be a good guy, rather than one of the henchmen mucking around. And I don't think I need to clarify just which 'good guy' I was hoping it would be…

Suddenly, just as Mrs O. and I arrived right next to the window, the clanking noise stopped. We both kind of held our breaths, wondering what it was and why it had suddenly ceased. I had just opened my mouth to ask Sean's mom what she thought was going on, when there was a rather loud snapping noise and the grimy bit of glass passing for the basement window suddenly disappeared from sight.

In its place, really bright light was left. So bright that Mrs. O. and I had to shield our eyes. I mean, we had been stuck down in that basement for a pretty long time and had even got our special night vision. To suddenly be flooded with daylight was a little much for our eyes to take.

But, squinting madly, I managed to look up at the window and through the open space which looked out on the outside world and, I fervently hoped, our freedom.

I was just considering what would be the best way to climb up and inspect what the hell had just happened when a head poked in through the window. And then my heart started beating really, really fast and I had to struggle to keep my mind focused on the task of getting out of that basement as fast as possible. That's because I was currently gazing into the beautiful, sea-haze eyes of Rob Wilkins and getting a startling reminder of just how supremely hot my boyfriend is. And I have to say, the view I was currently enjoying was very different to previous ones. I mean, I was standing down in this dingy little basement, while he was poking his head through from the outside, his face framed by the bright, bright sunlight. I'm embarrassed to say that I actually caught myself thinking, "Whoa, is he some kind of _angel_?" But somehow, I sincerely doubt that any angels up there, wherever they are, are on probation. Or ride motorcycles. Except, you know, for the Hell's Angels…

Anyway, I was rather rudely woken from my sudden reverie, by the beautiful face in front of me suddenly opening its perfect mouth and hissing, "Mastriani, get your ass out of here, before they come find out what that noise was!"

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Now, if you've read it, for the love of God, review it! Pretty, perty please? 


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**A/N: **Phew. This is a slightly daunting prospect. But, um… I'm updating. I'm sorry it's been such a long, long time. I've got a little… sidetracked.

As it's been so long, I think I ought to draw your attention to a few facts: this fic has now been ongoing for about three years. That means I am now three years older. So if you notice a dramatic change in writing style, that would be the reason why. Ditto for any lapses in character, plot or… general stuff. Please tell me if you think I've completely lost the feel of this fic.

HOWEVER, I wish to state that now my exams are over, I solemnly pledge my dedication for finishing this fic. I am pleased to say that I now know exactly where it's going and how… So I will be updating more frequently and finally getting it done and dusted. I've also gone back over the earlier chapters and edited all those annoying typos. Yes, folks, I really do mean business…

Plus, I wish to erase most of my memory of _Missing You_. Huh...

I'm now going to say a massive, massive thank you to people who managed to get all the way to chapter thirteen and review. You guys are the ones who have been reminding me of this fic and shaming me into writing an update. So, basically, the only reason I'm updating this is because of…

**flonshoe, **Wuteva**, x0x Maddie x0x, **XXdestinedXXforXXpainXX**, helen-of-troy27, **Swatter**, jessicamastiani, **twighlightangel61090**, CoCo Puffs are Yummy02, **Cricket Maniac**, redpolkadot92, **Candie is Sweet**, sarah, **Jordanne**, xoxocandyliciousxoxo, **got to love the cullens**, lyrical love**

Thanks so much to everyone! I hope you enjoy this part… Assuming anyone at all is still with me…

**Disclaimer: Not mine and never will be. Especially not after the scandalously long gaps between updating…**

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Before I could even contemplate doing the proper thing and respecting my elders by standing back to let Sean's mom out first, Rob reached right in to the basement and lifted me clean out of that window. Seriously. He just leaned in, firmly gripped the tops of my arms and swept me right out. This, I think, is why I need a boyfriend. 

And then, before I could even register relief, he leaned down and kissed me, really hard. And let me tell you, that was one hell of a kiss. It knocked every coherent thought straight out my head. All too soon, however, Rob drew back and keeping his hands on my shoulders, held me at arms length.

"If you ever, _ever _do that again," he said, his voice shaking with anger, "I will kill you."

"Ok." I answered, slightly dazed from the rescue and the kiss.

I guess I should have expected the anger, though. I mean, I had just gone running off and getting myself caught. And he was probably pretty bummed out that he had had to come rescue me again. Still, he was there, wasn't he? And even though he was really, really mad, I couldn't help this little goofy grin spreading across my face. Seriously. I don't know what is with me, but suddenly, the fact that Rob had come all this way and rescued me like that suddenly made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

"I mean it, Mastriani," interrupted Rob, "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I don't know," I answered, dreamily, though I was sure Sean had had something to do with it.

Rob saw my happy grin and kind of shook his head in a disgusted way. He then purposefully took my hand and started pulling me out of the front gate and over to his bike. It was at this point that I remembered to look behind me and see, with relief, Sean's mom following us with some guy I vaguely recognised from Chick's.

Mrs O'Hanahan was, I saw, suffering some consternation over having to ride a bike.

"Mrs O'Hanahan," I called over my shoulder. With some difficulty, I might add, because Rob was really dragging me, "I'm sorry about the bike, but we really do have to go."

Right on a cue, there was a loud cry from the basement, presumably as one of the hoodlums went to check on the noise and saw the window open. And us gone. Ha.

Sean's mom turned at the noise, and losing all her reservations, jumped on the bike.

"Is Sean out ok?" I asked Rob, as we quickly swung onto his bike, me jamming a helmet on my head.

"Of course," answered Rob, starting up the engine just as Scar Face came running out of the front door. "Time to go, I think," said Rob, "Say goodbye to your friends."

"Thanks for having me!" I yelled to Scar Face as we pulled off and left him behind.

"Rob," I said, leaning in close, "I think he's going to follow in the car."

"No he won't," yelled Rob, "We let the air out of the tyres."

At which point I threw back my head and laughed. Crazy, I know, but I was just so relieved and grateful.

I squeezed Rob even tighter and with all the joy I was currently feeling, told him, "I love you."

"Now," replied Rob, in a slightly strained voice, "is not the time, Mastriani."

And even though it was not the most ideal response, I smiled. Because, come on. He had just rescued me right from the heart of the bad guys' lair and we were currently going really, really fast.

Life does not get much better than that.

I turned my head and saw Mrs O'Hanahan riding on the back of the bike behind us. She had a look on her face with seemed to be a cross between exhilaration and complete confusion as to how she had got herself into that situation.

But what did it matter? We were both safe. And so, Rob had told me, was Sean.

Now I just needed to get to wherever we were going - and let's face it, anywhere Rob took me was fine by me - so I could find out about Douglas. And maybe send the cops in to pick up Evil Mary. Though how I could get them to do that, I had no idea. Hey, I can't always think of everything.

But even though I still had all this stuff to sort out and organise, I managed to just lose myself in the speed for a moment. Because when a girl has her arms wrapped around her incredibly hot boyfriend and is going really, really fast, with the wind in her hair, it's kind of hard to think about anything else.

With the speed we were pushing, we arrived at Rob's house fairly soon. And I am not ashamed to admit that I felt a little disappointed when he stopped the bike and waited for me to get off. Especially, when Rob put the helmets away without any sign of his anger abating. This worried me. I was hoping that our reunion would involve more kissing than anger. But this was obviously not the time, as he had said himself.

I went over to help Mrs O'Hanahan who was looking kind of bemused.

"I just rode a motorbike," she said.

"Um, yeah," I answered, brilliantly.

She started self consciously smoothing down her hair.

"I think," she said, after a few seconds, "I think I understand why you enjoy it so much."

I grinned at her. Because while some women may have considered it slightly undignified to be shoved onto a motorbike - say, off the top of my head, my mom, for example - Mrs O'Hanahan was completely unruffled by it.

"Hey," I said, still smiling at her, "Shall we go find Sean?"

"You mean he's here?" she asked, urgently.

"Yes, ma'am," said Rob, coming over to join us, "I think he's in the kitchen with my mother."

"Take me to him," whispered Mrs O'Hanahan, "Please."

Rob led the way and we entered the house to find Sean sitting up at the kitchen table, tucking into a large plate of food. I experienced a faint feeling of déjà vu. And you would have thought, that considering his mother and I had both still been in danger, he wouldn't have had much of an appetite. But no. He was way focused on his food. So focused that he barely glanced up when we entered the room.

When he did, though, he started choking on the piece of bacon he had just swallowed.

I went over to him and started helpfully thumping him on the back.

"Take it easy," I said, encouragingly, "That was one huge mouthful of bacon."

When he could breathe again, he jumped up and launched himself into his mother's arms. It was a seriously touching sight. Mrs O'Hanahan was crying quite freely, while Sean was being more discreet, but crying just the same.

When the two O'Hanahans were satisfied that the other was still alive, it was my turn to get a hug. I was trapped in a big, group hug which was actually pretty nice, despite making it quite hard to breathe.

Then when I was released, Mrs O'Hanahan looked at Rob and went, "Oh, God, you saved us!" And promptly threw her arms round him.

It was like some huge hugging fest. And Rob looked slightly uncomfortable, I must say.

When Sean's mom had regained her composure and sat down at the table, next to Sean, Rob kind of coughed and went, "Listen, I'm really sorry about all this."

"You're sorry?" asked Mrs O'Hanahan, "You just saved our lives. Why are you sorry?"

"Because if everything had gone according to plan, we wouldn't have had to save you in the first place."

"Even the best plans go wrong," said Sean's mom, kindly.

"Yeah, but my friends were supposed to be watching the motel, for the first sign of trouble. And clearly they let me down."

"Hey," I said, putting my hand on Rob's arm, "It doesn't matter. We're safe now. What I want to know is, how did Sean's dad find them?"

"That," said Rob, in a strained voice, "Is probably my fault, too."

"What?"

"You know that guy we made a delivery to first?" asked Rob, turning to me, "Well, I don't know how, but it seems to me that he must have recognised us. Probably had some contact with Sean's dad, the ba-"

I cleared my throat, noisily.

"The bad man," he said, nodding his head politely at Mrs O'Hanahan.

Just then, the real Mary came into the room and beamed as she saw us all.

"Why, hello," she said, smiling at Mrs O'Hanahan, "You must be Sean's mother. I'm Rob's mother."

While they were introducing themselves, I said to Rob, out the side of my mouth, "Uh, I'm gonna need to ring Krantz."

"Sure," he answered, "Come use the phone in the hall."

He took my hand - which I was secretly quite pleased about - and led me over to the hall phone.

"What do you think Krantz is gonna do?" he asked. "I mean, technically, in the eyes of the law and all, Mrs O'Hanahan is the one who should be arrested."

"I know," I answered, biting my lip, "But I reckon they owe me a favour, right? I mean, I've been helping them out a lot."

"That's right," said Rob, scowling.

I smiled, slightly, as I dialled Krantz's number. Kind of sad that I knew it off by heart, but what can you do?

I looked at Rob, as the phone started to ring and waited for Krantz to answer.

"Krantz," he answered, slightly irritably.

This was not a good sign.

"Uh, hi, it's Jess…"

"Jessica? What do you want?"

Ok, that was way rude. I mean, what made him think I wanted something? I could have just wanted to chat.

"Well, basically, this morning I was held hostage. And-"

"_What_?" demanded Krantz. He seemed to have gone from irritable to downright mad. Oops. I'd clearly caught him at a bad time.

"Uh, it was nothing, really. I mean, I'm fine now. But basically, there was this messed up childminder who was holding us all hostage..."

"'Us'?" demanded Krantz, "Jessica, who's 'us'?"

"Oh, just me and a friend of mine. Anyway, we w ere being held captive by a certain Mr O'Hanahan. Remember him? The asshole who is supposedly beyond the reach of the law?"

"Jessica," sighed Krantz, "We have already discussed this. Mr O'Hanahan has been cleared of all allegations in a court of law. We can hardly intervene because you say so."

"But you're the FBI!" I called, slamming my fist on the table. Kind of dramatic, I know, but I was frustrated. "You're the freaking FBI. I thought you could do whatever you wanted."

"Within reason, Jessica."

"And what does 'within reason' mean? All I want is some reassurance that my friends aren't going to be killed. And it's not like you don't owe me a favour…"

"What, exactly, are you suggesting?"

"That you leave Mrs O'Hanahan and Sean alone. And I just figured that maybe you guys could go and take a look at this house where I was held. In the basement without a light, might I add. And this woman - she's a childminder. No way is she fit to be looking after kids."

"Jessica," said Krantz, in a slightly pained voice, "We're the FBI, not child protection."

"But she's a freaking psycho! I mean, she's Mr O'Hanahan's mother. And when she's not looking after other people's kids, what does she do? Oh, that'll just be holding her son's prisoners hostage in the basement. But that's not your problem, is it?"

"Jessica, please. Just give me this address and we'll see what we can do. I'm not promising anything, though."

"Fine," I answered, quickly reeling off the address. "Now promise you'll leave Sean and his mom alone."

Krantz sounded really weary, "You really don't make this easy, Jessica, but we'll try our best."

I then put the phone down, thoroughly pissed off. Why couldn't he just have said 'yes'?

"Hey," said Rob, quietly, noticing that I was fuming.

"Can you believe that guy?" I demanded, aggressively, turning on him, "Because I cannot believe that guy."

Rob held up his hands, in mock surrender. "Mastriani, I know this is the last thing you want to hear, but maybe Krantz is right when he says he can't do much. Hey, listen," he said, loudly, when I opened my mouth to protest, "According to the law, Mr O'Hanahan has done nothing wrong."

"He kidnapped Sean!" I said, indignantly.

"And you, too," reminded Rob, sourly, "But that's not the point. Because he's been ruled 'not guilty' they can't change that. We have no proof that he kidnapped you. And as he's been given custody of Sean, he could hardly be arrested for just taking his son back. Although, the fact that you were taken to his mother's house could prove something… Anyway, what I'm saying is, maybe the best course right now is to try and get Sean and his mom home safely."

I digested all this. Although Rob doesn't always talk that much, it's usually well worth it when he does. Seriously. My boyfriend is hot, owns a motorbike _and _smart. Incredible, really.

"You're right," I said, at last, sighing resignedly.

"Good," said Rob, he nodded in the direction of the kitchen, "We better sort those two out, and then talk to Krantz about what to do in case those head cases come back."

"Whoa," I said, stopping dead in my tracks, "Talk to Krantz about what?"

"Mastriani," said Rob, clearly getting annoyed, "You were held hostage today. Those guys are nasty and you're not safe."

"I'll be fine, Rob," I said, distractedly, "I mean, they're not gonna come back for me, or anything."

"Jess, I mean it," said Rob, reaching out and gripping me by the arm, "We're going to talk to Krantz and make sure we keep you safe."

I shook him off and laughed, starting to walk back towards the kitchen. "It'll be fine, Rob, they won't want to come after me. Why would they?"

"Because," hissed Rob, grabbing my arm again so I had to turn back to face him, "That's two times you've managed to take Sean away from him now. And it's not exactly hard to find out where _Lightning Girl _lives, is it?"

I stared up into his sea-haze eyes and saw just how angry he was about it all. And, I suppose, if I'm honest, I understood where he was coming from. There probably was a slight risk that I'd be in danger - and that was the last thing we needed round my house what with Doug and all.

Doug.

I'd completely forgotten in all of the commotion about the O'Hanahans.

"Hey," I said, looking up at Rob again, urgently, "I need to find out about Doug."

Rob frowned at me. "If this is you attempting to change the subject then I swear…"

"No," I said, taking his hand, "I agree with what you were saying before. But now I really need to know where Doug is, I'm worried about him."

"Why?" asked Rob, clearly a little confused, but his face softening, "What's happened with Doug?"

And my heart kind of sank when he said that. Because if he had no idea about Doug, then that must have meant that it hadn't been Rob who had given him the message.

"I asked him to tell you where I was," I said, slightly choked.

Rob frowned. "No… Ruth told me. And she hates me, by the way."

Rob peered at me, anxiously. I was fairly sure that I must have gone a little pale, when I heard that there had been no news from my brother.

"Ok," said Rob, gently, taking my hand, "let's get the others sorted and then we'll find out about your brother."

"Thanks," I said, gratefully, letting him take over and lead me back to the kitchen.

"Jess," Mrs O'Hanahan looked up when we entered the kitchen. She had clearly just been on the phone in the kitchen. I saw Sean scowl a little at the fact that Rob and I were hand in hand, but I decided to ignore it. That was one complication I could totally do without for the moment.

"Jess," continued Sean's mom, "I just managed to speak to Frank!"

I brightened up a bit at this, "Yeah? Where is he? And your neighbour?"

"Maria's fine," she answered, visibly relieved, "He put her on a plane and she should be arriving soon. Frank stayed though. He, um, he wouldn't leave because he didn't know where I was." She coloured a little, with pleasure, as she said this.

I smiled at her, genuinely pleased, "You know, he sounds like a really great guy."

Mrs O grinned, "He is. And he wants to come get us, so we can fly back."

I looked to Rob for reassurance. He considered it for a moment.

"That should be ok," he said, after a while, "I mean, no one knows where we live. And no one knows you were with him, do they?"

She shook her head.

"Well, if he can get here quick and you have the flights all set up, there shouldn't be too much of a problem. It's risk, though. I mean, for all we know, they airports could have been staked out by Sean's dad."

"It shouldn't have been," I interrupted, "Not if Krantz is doing his job properly."

"Yeah," said Sean, unexpectedly, "but we all know we can't rely on the feds."

I felt a little proud of him, then. He was one sharp kid.

"I want to risk it," said Mrs O, suddenly, "The longer we stay here, the more danger we're in. I think it's best we get away as soon as possible. Otherwise, he might find out…"

"Ok, so this Frank guy…"

"He's on his way, actually. I, um, told him where we are…. After Mary gave me a hand with the address, of course."

Rob nodded. "How long will he be?"

"About an hour or so, I should think."

"Ok," Rob answered, "Till then, I think it's probably best we don't leave the house. Just in case people find out where we are and complicate things. They could be on the look-out."

I nodded then. That gave me nearly an hour to find out about Doug.

And though I couldn't say anything to Sean or his mom, I was seriously worried.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

SORRY about the delay. There are forces beyond my control and they stopped me posting this before I went away. But I'm back now. With a rather action packed chapter...

**Thanks so,** **so much** to everyone who's reviewed, to people who're sticking with this and to all the lovely new people. You are truly awesome. I was wondering... all those lovely people who've added this fic to favourites or alerts, why not review? If you felt like it, it'd be much appreciated...

**Disclaimer**: Doesn't belong to me, nimrod. And if it did, book five would have gone rather differently, let me tell you.

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I bit my bottom lip viciously as the phone line clicked onto the answer phone. For the fourth time in a row. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Rob regarding me in a concerned way. 

"Mastriani?" he asked, hesitantly.

Frustrated, I slammed the phone down.

"Not picking up," I explained, shortly, "No one's picking up at home."

"Ok," said Rob, "Well, anyone else you could call to find out?"

Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I tried to slow down my racing mind and properly _think_. It was hard, because my mind was running round in zig zags and circles going, "_Panic, Jess, panic!_" I tried my hardest to blank it out.

"Tasha," I said, at last, "I should just ring Tasha."

It was a stupidly obvious idea, I realised, and one I should have thought of straightaway. What with them being inseparable and all. Not to mention the numerous times we'd had to ring her whenever mom had started freaking out because she didn't know where Doug was. Only this time, it was me freaking out. And unlike mom, who is just overprotective, I had a genuine reason to do so.

"There you go then," said Rob, encouragingly.

Trying to ignore just how shaky my hands were, I lifted the receiver and dialled again.

Tasha answered after a few, short rings.

"Hey," I said, trying to keep my voice reasonably neutral, "It's Jess. Is Doug there?"

"Doug? No," she said, slowly, and I felt my stomach do an impressive leap into my mouth, "He just called, though. Said he was on his way home and would be there in about twenty minutes. Is he alright?"

"Alright?" I repeated, dumbly, "Why?"

"He just sounded a little odd, is all. And I didn't... Plus, you've got company and stuff..."

"Company? What company?" I realised my voice was getting pretty agitated but I was too worked up to care, "Tasha, who's round my house?"

"I don't know," she answered, clearly surprised by how frantic I'd suddenly become, "Just two expensive looking cars. You know; with the blacked out windows and stuff. Most of the them are just parked outside, but I think two guys went round round the back, maybe... I thought it was a _little_ strange, but-"

"Do they look, at all, like Fed cars?" I interrupted, my mouth dry, knowing I was clinging to a pretty dismal hope.

"Well, I don't have all that much experience with that kinda thing, but I wouldn't say so, no. I mean, they look like regular people. Not especially friendly..."

"How many?" I demanded.

"Just four, I think. Two in each car, maybe... Jess, what's going on?"

"Too complicated to explain," I apologised, "But Tasha, listen to me: you do not go near my house, ok? Just don't. But – and I know this is a pretty confusing instruction – try your best to make sure Doug doesn't go inside, either. Please. I'm gonna be over as soon as I can."

"Ok, but Jess-" I vaguely heard Tasha say, but I didn't listen to the rest because I was busy hanging up the phone.

I had already turned and begun marching back to the kitchen, when I felt a firm hand on my shoulder and was whirled around to face Rob.

"Mastriani," he said, forcefully, "What's going on?"

"Oh, Rob..." I was so dazed, I swear I'd forgotten all about him. "Doug's not at home, but Tasha said he was on his way and sounding odd on the phone but then there are all these weird cars pulling up outside my house and I'm betting that they're not some over-protective feds which means that when Doug gets home, if he doesn't go over to Tasha's first – but that probably won't happen, cos how can Tasha... - anyway, he's in pretty serious trouble and it's all my fault."

"Whoa," said Rob, looking slightly alarmed, but controlling it well, "Wait, these guys are outside your house?"

"Yeah," I said, urgently, "Which is why we have to get there right now."

"Get there? _Get there_? Mastriani, what the hell is going on in your head today? It's just one insane plan after another. No way are we going over there."

"Rob, I _need_ to go there! They're angry with me, not Doug. And if I'm not there- if I'm not, Doug'll get hurt or even episode and I can't let that happen. I won't let that happen."

"Rob!" I cried, panicked, as I saw him open his mouth to protest, "Rob, I need to go there. _Now_." I had to stop myself there, because I was suddenly terrified that I might cry or something. So instead, I just stood there, imploring him with my eyes.

He looked very much like he wanted to say no and possibly lock me away until I'd come to my better senses – and, to be completely honest, I didn't blame him, because I really was acting like a crazy person – but he simply frowned. Then, very reluctantly, he nodded and purposefully taking my hand, led me back into the kitchen.

Mary, Sean and his mother all looked up as I entered the room. The smiles on their faces died when they noticed my expression.

"What's wrong?" asked Sean, "Is my dad on the way?"

"No," answered Rob, which was a good thing, because I felt incapable of speech, "But there's a bit of trouble round Mas- Jess' house and with her brother."

"Yeah," I said, feeling better able to talk, but still way distracted, "My brother, Douglas, is-"

Suddenly, without any warning and literally out of nowhere, I felt an almighty blow to my stomach. With all the wind knocked out of me, and pain suddenly exploding through my head, I gasped and sank to my knees. Doubled over on the floor, I was dimly aware of Sean, Rob, Mary and Mrs O calling out in concern - but only vaguely.

Soon, their voices faded out completely and I was only noticing the two tall and shadowy figures standing around me in what – I realised with a jolt – was my own living room.

Dimly, I felt that there was blood coming from my – well, _Doug's_ – head. The man standing over me was terrifyingly tough looking and seemed to be demanding information about me – me-me, that is.

The next thing I knew, I was lying weakly in Rob's arms who was staring intently at my face and urgently calling my name.

"Mm?" I said, struggling to clear my head and focus my eyes.

"What did you see?" asked Rob, calmly, but clearly shaken.

"Doug," I said, finding it hard to form the words, "And we need-" My voice choked a little, as I remember what I'd seen and felt, "Oh my God, we need to go _now_," I finished, struggling to stand up.

Rob carefully helped me to my feet and began escorting me towards the main exit.

Just before we left, I properly remembered were I was and turned back towards Sean and his mom.

"Make sure you get yourselves home safe, ok? We'll catch up later."

With a supreme effort, I managed to smile at them – though it could have been more of a grimace. It wasn't quite the goodbye I would have liked, especially after everything we'd just been through, but it would have to do. There were way more important things on my mind than goodbyes.

Soon – but not quite soon enough for my liking – I was on the back of Rob's bike and we were flying towards my house. But this time, there was no enjoyment in the ride, whatsoever. All my thoughts were eaten up with concern. And we were going nowhere near fast enough, though Rob was easily pushing the bike as much as he could. Every minute we spent travelling was another minute Doug had to suffer and it was unbearable.

Finally, however, Rob was parking his bike a little way down my street. I dumped my helmet and, without even waiting for Rob, began sprinting down the street. Behind me, I heard Rob swear softly, but it didn't matter – I mean, it wasn't like he couldn't catch up, right?

Just short of the house, I kind of paused. I wasn't entirely sure of the best way to approach the situation. And I was willing to bet that they'd left one guy watching in each car. It would be stupid to just march up to the front door as if I owned the place. Which, incidentally, I kind of did, but that's not the point.

Rob, however, was right by my side and yet seemed to be one step ahead of me.

"Go in round the back – I'm guessing they surprised Doug when he came in through the front. And in through your neighbor's yard, so the guys outside don't see..."

In that moment, I remember just why it's so useful to take Rob along with me on these kind of trips. Aside from the whole transport thing, of course. And rescues. And hotne– yeah, you get the idea.

"Ok," I agreed, quickly, "But not Ruth's garden, cos we'd actually have to walk past them to get there."

Without stopping to think, I instantly cut directly into the front yard of the house we were currently standing outside. Rob didn't seem to disapprove – or, if he did, he kept quite about it – and simply followed me round the back. There, he gave me a leg up over the pretty high fence, before neatly vaulting over himself. We landed in a well-tended flower bed, but I decided to not to care about that then. Fervently hoping that our neighbours wouldn't see and report me to my parents, we dashed across their garden, before cautiously climbing into my own.

Once standing on my own garden ground, I felt myself become even more determined. Doug was just inside the house and I didn't have far to go. I stared up at the silent back of my home. It looked empty. I knew it wasn't.

Next to me, I felt Rob tense.

"Get behind me," he commanded, softly, though I knew he hadn't yet seen anything. He was just getting ready – and my mouth went kind of dry when I considered what he could be getting ready for.

As I turned to look at him, for the first time, I noticed that he'd actually brought the lug wrench from his bike with him.

"You brought that all this way?" I hissed, momentarily startled. And slightly confused that I hadn't noticed. I must have been way focused.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Best to be prepared, Mastriani."

I gave him a worried smile, before nodding over at the house. "In the lounge."

Then, after I had taken a long, deep breath to steady myself, Rob and I crept into the seemingly still house.

Although it was still a reasonably light evening outside, you so couldn't tell inside the house. The men had drawn all the curtains and it was all gloomy and creepily dark. I found myself half-entertaining the idea of vampires – before I realised I was letting the hysteria get to me, and squashed it back down.

All of my senses tingling as I tried to listen, feel, and even _smell_ the people in my house, I made my way over to the lounge.

Just as I was about to go in, Rob stepped purposefully in front of me and entered first. I was fully prepared to feel indignant – it was my house, after all – when I heard the unpleasant sound of heavy metal connecting with soft flesh and ended up feeling grateful. Sometimes, it totally pays to have a protective boyfriend. Ok, _all_ the time, what with my hobbies, but I have a feeling we've already discussed this. Several times.

Behind Rob, I quickly flicked on the light switch and everyone blinked for a few seconds, as the electric light illuminated the room. I felt way powerful in that moment, let me tell you. Maybe how the Scooby Doo guys feel when they inevitably unmask the villain. Only, you know, we hadn't actually caught them, there were no police and this was a little more serious than a museum haunting.

Way more serious.

Doug was still alive, but crumpled on the floor and bleeding from the head. Satisfyingly, the guy Rob had just taken out with the lug wrench was leaning heavily against the wall to Rob's right and clearly finding it hard to breathe.

There was another, burlier man, pretty close to my left, who was clearly trying to continue sidling round next to me and take me by surprise. Which was completely ridiculous, seeing as how his partner was – momentarily, at least – incapacitated and all our attention focused on him. But I guess Mr O'Hanahan goes for quantity of villain, rather than quality.

That, however, didn't stop me from drawing my elbow forward and then driving it right up into his throat, just as he got round to my side. Before neatly finishing the effect by kicking him in the groin. I always like to be thorough.

"You bitch," he wheezed, while I winced at his choice of words and Rob looked positively livid.

"Mm hm, I'm quite a protective sister. Right," I started, forcefully, while both men were still struggling to breathe, "You stay the hell away from my brother. It's me you want."

At this point, both of the men were kind of beginning to straighten up and looking very much like they wanted to hurt me. A lot. As subtly as I could, I kind of brushed Rob's arm. I hoped it would somehow convey a kind of, _get ready_ message. I'm not entirely sure how successful it was, but it was the best I could do.

"So," I said, preparing to step back as they began rounding on us, "I am the one you want – um, in bad guy, wanting-to-kill-me terms that is. But, as with all things in life, if you want it..." I tugged hard on Rob's elbow, "you'll have to come and get it."

And with that, I turned and sprinted straight for the front door, relieved to find that Rob was hot on my heels.

Somehow, I managed to yank open the front door – they hadn't thought to properly lock it, it seems - before they caught up with us and in no time, Rob and I were haring down the street, towards the Indian. I guess the guys 'keeping watch' were too startled to spring into action. Again, I had to question Mr O's staffing choices.

The outside light was a major contrast to the darkened hallway, but even without perfect vision, there was no mistaking the sound of two car doors slamming, from just outside my house.

While I was pleased that there were _two_ car door slams – meaning that both men had vacated my house – I was not so pleased that the car slamming, and engine starting began before Rob and I were actually on the bike.

By the time I'd frantically managed to jam my helmet on – see, I can do safety, sometimes – and leapt onto the bike behind Rob, they had already pulled out onto the road. Luckily, it was a little easier for the bike to slip out ahead of them, but the cars were still far too close for comfort.

I gripped Rob even tighter and didn't need to give him the command to go faster. I think he'd kind of gotten the measure of the situation.

With some effort, as the cars squealed out behind us, he turned his head and yelled out, "Any idea where we're going?"

Sadly, I hadn't. The best I could come up with was a hesitant, "Police?"If you can yell hesitantly, that is.

Rob didn't answer, but I saw him nod and that settled it. As much as we hated the police, it was really the only thing we could do. Besides, Chick's was a little too far and I'm not sure the grits could have been rallied in time.

As Rob was urging the bike faster and faster, I turned my head and was alarmed by just how close the cars were. There was only about a distance of one car between us and they were quite clearly gaining. However, more alarming still, was the horribly familiar object the passenger was clutching and aiming right at us.

Weirdly, though, it was only when I heard the actual noises that things started to register. Before that, I'd been kind of numb and kind of like, _Well, I'm glad they're out the house. Phew. Mom would have gone ballistic if they'd made any more mess. _You know: relieved and thinking I could relax a little. But let me tell you, as soon as those gunshots started up I released it was all far from over. At that point, I seemed to go into autopilot. I squeezed Rob even tighter and pressed my head into his shoulder as he yelled a muffled, "Hold on!" The Indian was being pushed harder than it had ever been pushed and I became properly grateful that my boyfriend was a mechanic. And so handy in a crisis.

I suppose I was dimly aware that the fact we were being chased down a residential street by shooting henchmen was faintly bizarre. And if I hadn't been so concerned that ordinary people might get hurt and Doug was still lying in the lounge bleeding, it would have been pretty funny. Rob was doing an amazing job – weaving in and out of traffic and trying to shake the guys off. Sadly, though, the roads weren't particularly busy and so they always managed to find a way back through. It was way annoying. I was simply gritting my teeth and hoping that Tasha had had the foresight to call the police...

Up till that point, I don't think I was really awake. I had just been going through the motions of all the stuff we had to do. Sure, I knew that we were speeding away from pretty grave danger and everything pretty much rested on us getting to the cops on time – but no way had I realised just how serious the situation was. I mean, yeah, I was thinking it was kind of cool and movie-like, but I wasn't really registering that the bullets were real and the guys genuinely wanted to kill me. I guess I must have been still in shock from the whole having to rescue Doug thing.

Man, did I get a rude wake up call. And it was signalled by a deep and sudden stab in my side.

I'm pretty sure that that was when I realised they really were shooting at us.

And not only that – they'd actually _shot_ me.

I didn't want to alarm Rob or anything, because I mean, getting shot is pretty lame. Especially when you're in the middle of a ridiculously movie-like getaway – it may be all dramatic in the films, but it kind of sucks when you genuinely need to be getting to safety. And you don't happen to have a helicopter you can hop on or a grenade to chuck behind you. However, Rob must have heard my sharp intake of breath or felt the way my body kind of contracted or something, because he half-whipped his head round and demanded, "You alright?" in this urgent way.

"Mastriani!" he repeated, when I didn't reply. I couldn't speak, because I was focusing all my efforts on managing the pain.

"Jess? Speak to me!" he called – and his voice sounded so scared, I knew I had to force a reply.

"Fine, Rob," I managed to mutter, though my voice was irritatingly faint, "Keep going."

He did more than keep going. While I was concentrating harder than anything on keeping my grip around Rob's waist and staying upright, he was positively making that bike _fly_. I was sure that, if I'd had the strength to turn my head and check behind us, the guys in cars must have fallen a bit behind.

I couldn't really do anything, though, because this annoying roaring noise had started up in my ears that certainly wasn't coming from the Indian – Rob sensibly kept his bike muffled. At the same time, everything seemed to be going just that little bit less sharp and clear. It was way disorientating. But the wind hitting me full in the face was a serious help with keeping my mind as focused as I could. So I gritted my teeth - so hard I could have worn them all down - and just clung onto that bike for dear life. And let's face it, it was. Also, I wasn't too far gone to not realise that falling off would have majorly hindered our escape plans. Not to mention wasting police time in having to scrape me off the tarmac...

Just as I was certain that there was nothing more I could do - because, really, all I could see was the back of Rob's jacket and even that was growing faint – I kind of glimpsed some very welcome lights and the outline of a familiar sign. And I swear, I have never ever been so happy to see the cops before. Not to mention the entire cop headquarters. I managed to hold on just long enough for Rob to drive right into the police station forecourt, and say "Doug!" as loudly as I could. Then, as he killed the engine, I simply closed my eyes, allowed my head to drop forwards and let everything grow black, black, black...

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**So... Review? Yes? Thanks!**


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**A/N: **Can I please just say, this chapter has given me _hell_. It definitely did not want to be written, which is why it has taken so long. So I've struggled with it, and beaten it around and, hopefully, it's now somewhat readable. I don't want to let y'all down on this last chapter, so if it sucks, drop me a review and let me know why. That way, we can all help each other... We could even consider this a semi-work in progress.

But, this is the Last Chapter. I have actually finished the fic. I never thought I'd actually see this day, but, now it's here, I'm going to have to thank each and every one of you. Anyone who's read, anyone who's reviewed. And, especially, all those people who consistently did both. Your encouragement is the only reason I stuck with this. So, really, _you're_ the ones who wrote this fic. Mm hm, how'd you like that...?

**Disclaimer**: After sixteen chapters, I would've thought you'd got the message. This belongs to Meg Cabot. Rob Wilkins belongs to me (in my dreams).

* * *

It was strange. I think I must have reached out my hand for Chigger, with my eyes closed. Then, when there was no furry mutt to be felt, I opened my eyes and received an almighty shock of serious disorientation. Because, of all the clichéd ways to describe it, everything around me really was _white_. Including my mom's face, which was hovering somewhere just above me, slightly to my left. However, when she saw my eyes flutter open, her face kind of flooded with colour and she rushed to enfold me in a smothering hug.

What with her cutting off both my circulation and air supply, not to mention my lingering disorientation, it took me a few minutes to start processing what my mother was screeching in my ear.

"-my baby, and I honestly thought you were going to die. I saw you there, so pale and so quiet and I just thought that was it. You were dead. And I didn't-"

"Calm down, mom," I broke in, finally, recovering my voice, "I only got shot."

From the corner, I heard a slight chuckle, and tilted my head to see my dad smiling down at me. He kissed me on the forehead, before pointing a finger in my face and warning, "Mind it never happens again."

"Don't worry," I reassured him, groggily, "I really don't intend to make a habit of it."

I felt for the bandage around the side of my waist and winced slightly. It didn't hurt too bad – just a kind of dull ache. It was more the size of the bandage that bothered me. Did they really need that much fabric for a little bullet hole?

"No real internal damage, luckily," said my dad, "Though I think they had less fun trying to get the thing out."

I grimaced, not wanting to concern myself with the details too much. Although it was pretty cool that I'd actually been in surgery and all. However, I was suddenly struck by a very, very important thought.

"Where's Rob?" I blurted out, willing myself not to notice the expression on my mom's face

My mom kind of opened her mouth to answer, but my dad hushed her. Perhaps he realised that a family scene was not really what my recovery needed.

"I made him go home about half an hour ago. He was exhausted, poor man. Kept refusing to leave until your surgery was complete and you were in the clear. I expect he's getting some much needed rest."

I was kind of disappointed that he wasn't there to witness my coming round, but from what my dad had said, it sounded like he'd been more than a diligent boyfriend. Plus, this way, I had a chance to make myself appear a little bit more animated for his next visit. I was guessing I was about as white as the sheets I was lying in.

My mom's face kind of scowled, but she recovered and went, "Well, I better go tell people you're awake! I know your Aunt Rose would love to hear the good news..."

Then it was my turn to scowl, but I think I held it in well. My mom gave me a final bone crunching hug before leaving the room. My dad came to sit in the chair by my bed and, I must admit, it felt really reassuring. My dad's calm presence was just what I needed to let me come to terms with the fact that I'd just been shot. Oh my God, I'd been _shot_...

I had just opened my mouth to ask my dad just what, exactly, had happened when a knocking at the door caused me to whip my head around so fast I almost cricked my neck. I'm sure I don't need to say who I was expecting... Oh, come on, I'd just been shot, had surgery and come to in a hospital room. Like you wouldn't have been eager to see your boyfriend, too.

However, the people who entered my room were definitely unexpected. In fact, the sight of them meant that I sat up so fast my head started to spin.

I screwed my eyes shut against the wooziness I suddenly felt and concentrated on spitting some words out. "What the hell are you guys doing here?" I demanded, still with my eyes closed, "You're not supposed to be here! You should be home! Do you have any idea how stupidly _dangerous_ this is and after everything that..."

"Whoa, easy." My dad laid his hand on my arm and gently coaxed me to lie back again.

From the horizontal position it was easier to open my eyes and therefore glare at Sean and his mom.

Mrs O. looked way nervous and her gaze kind of flicked from me to my dad.

"Has no one...?" she began, hesitantly, looking expectantly at my dad, "Has no one told her?"

"Has no one told me what?" I demanded, heatedly, "I am still here, you know."

"Sorry," apologised Sean's mom, "Has no one told you what happened?"

"Well, no," I answered, slightly crabby due to how obvious it was I'd missed out on a lot of important information, "No, I don't know what happened because I was a little busy being unconscious."

"Jess, don't be rude," admonished my dad.

"Sorry," I said, apologising in turn, "But would someone please fill me in on what happened?"

"They got my dad!" Sean, who had been uncharacteristically silent, suddenly bust out. I'm not sure, but I'm guessing the sight of me all tucked up in my hospital bed had slightly freaked him out. I don't blame him - I've never looked particularly good after just waking up. However, my crabbiness had probably removed most of his discomfort.

My eyes kind of widened when I realised exactly what Sean's words meant and, luckily, he took that as a sign to continue. I wasn't sure if I was capable of speaking, I was so surprised.

"Yeah!" said Sean, reading my shocked silence, "They got him. And the stupid men he sent to your house. They worked out how they were all connected, 'cos of the CCTV footage showing them together and their confession and some stuff they left at your house and - and now he's going to jail and he can't come back. Hopefully not, anyway."

It was at this point that I realised I was probably doing a rather amazing impersonation of my mom's goldfish expression. My mouth was opening and closing but I was too confused for any sound to come out. Partly due to what Sean was telling me, and partly due to the way in which he was telling it. I know the kid was excited, but he wasn't exactly making it easy for me...

"Seriously?" I asked, at last, turning to my dad, concentrating on the important bit of information, "They got them?"

"Krantz caught up with Mr O'Hanahan outside Sean's grandmother's house. Unfortunately for him, his henchmen had left behind enough evidence at our house to link them to Mr O'Hanahan," my dad explained, helping make sense of Sean's exclamations, "not to mention CCTV footage at a nearby mall showing them all together, and the men's direct confession of their involvement. After all that, their action of breaking into our house and injuring Doug is enough to get them put away for a long time."

"Oh God," I breathed, not even considering just how long my dad's speech had been, "Doug! How's Doug?"

"He's just fine," smiled my dad, "He's already walking out and about. His ribs mean he even has a nice bandage around his side to match yours."

"The feds said you got there just in time," broke in Sean, "If those guys had been there any longer it would have been one hell of a lot worse."

I narrowed my eyes at Sean, "Have you been eavesdropping on FBI conversations?"

Sean looked a little shamefaced, before nodding.

"Excellent," I grinned, "Keep up the good work. Though you should probably remember that it's thanks to them you're now safe."

"Thanks to _you_, you mean," corrected Sean, grinning back at me.

"Well, yeah, but the feds have the power to arrest. Whereas I merely have to the power to assault. Anyway, you're safe!" My face felt like it was going to explode I was grinning so hard. I glanced at Mrs O, only to see that she had tears in her eyes. And something told me they were tears of joy, which only served to make me grin harder.

"Hey," I said, after a moment, remembering something, "Where's Frank?"

"He's out in the waiting room," answered Sean's mom, smiling softly, "We didn't want to overwhelm you with new faces."

"That was sweet of you," I said, genuinely grateful. I wasn't really in a state to meet new people. Heck, I'm not even that good at it in normal situations, "I'd love to meet him later, though."

"Oh, you will," she assured me, "We're going to stick around for a while. We need to be there for my ex-husband's trial. I'm going to make sure he gets put away and stays away. His arrest means I have a reprieve, though. Sean is legally mine."

"Oh, man," I exclaimed, unable to contain the happy emotions a minute longer, "Come here and give me a hug."

The big, happy hug I was sharing with the O'Hanahans – the good O'Hanahans, I should probably say – was interrupted by another knock at the door.

I withdrew from the group embrace only to be met with a sight so welcome I swear my heart almost stopped. And, hey, even if it had, it wouldn't have mattered, because I was already in a hospital.

"Hi," said Rob, still hovering awkwardly in the doorway, clearly not wanting to interrupt things.

"Hey," I beamed, drinking in the sight of him, "I can't believe how great it is that they finally got Mr O'Hanahan." A slightly odd conversation starter after having finally regained conciousness, perhaps, but the sight of him had temporarily made my brain spaz out.

"Yeah," answered Rob, turning his smile to Sean and his mom, "It's awesome. I'm so happy for you guys."

"Well, we can't thank you enough for all your help," said Mrs O'Hanahan, "And we hope to thank you properly later. But right now, I think Sean and I ought to go back to Frank."

And with that, her and Sean left the room. It was a fairly obvious exit line, but one I was grateful for.

My dad smiled at Rob and beckoned him over. "You wouldn't mind keeping Jess company for a while, would you?" he asked, "I need to go find her mother and make sure she's not ringing newspapers or something."

"Of course, sir," answered Rob, respectfully, "It would be no trouble at all."

My dad smiled at me, slightly knowingly, before bending down to give me a quick kiss on the forehead.

"Don't go anywhere," he warned, jokingly, as he left.

"Don't worry," I called after him, "I couldn't if I tried."

Rob came and sank into the chair my dad had just left, scooting it right up close to my bed. Before I'd even realised it, his lips were on mine and he was kissing me, gently but passionately. Now _that_ was the conversation starter appropriate to the situation.

All too soon, however, he broke away. So soon, actually, that I realised he hadn't intended to kiss me at all. At least, not then. And it was that realisation that really warmed my soul – hell, the guy found me irresistible even when I was in a hospital gown. That's got to make a girl feel special.

He kept his face close to mine, while taking my hand and gently rubbing his thumb across the top of it.

"I wanted to be here when you woke up," he said, softly, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," I replied, smiling, "You're here now. And from what I've heard, you were here quite a lot before then, too."

"Well," he said, staring intently at my hand, "You'd been shot. I had to make sure you were ok."

"I'm ok," I reassured him, willing him to look at me, "I'm ok, Rob."

He suddenly looked up and into my eyes and I caught a glimpse of real fear in his own.

"Hey," I said, slightly startled, "Are you ok?" I reached up to cup his cheek in my palm, and he covered my hand with his free one.

"I didn't know what to..." he paused for a moment, seemingly collecting his thoughts, "Jess, you were _shot_. While you were on the back of my bike. And there was nothing I could do. I mean, you could have _died_..."

"I didn't die," my eyes directly on his, "And no way in hell was it your fault, you moron. It was the fault of the bastards wielding guns who were driving along behind us."

"Jess..." began Rob, in a slightly resigned tone.

"Rob..." I replied, matching his own tone, "Not. Your. Fault."

With my hand still on his cheek, I guided his face closer to mine. "Not. Your. Fault." I repeated when I could feel his own breath against my lips. And then I kissed him, for all I was worth, hoping the message would get through. I'm not entirely sure how effective it was, but Rob certainly responded.

"Bit of a role reversal," I commented, later, when we'd paused for a rest, our hands still linked, "What with me being the injured party."

"I guess it had to happen sooner or later," grinned Rob, "What with the way you carry on."

"I don't have a choice," I said, simply, "I'd hardly let morons like that hurt my brother and Sean and get away with it."

Rob grinned at me some more – not his usual half-disgusted, half-amused smile, but one that was kind of proud and admiring. I have to say, I liked it a lot.

"Did anyone tell you that they got arrested?" he asked.

"Well, not how," I answered, "From the story I've heard, I just had to assume they'd got caught at some stage."

"They got arrested right as we pulled up into the station. Some squad cars had already left – your friend Tasaha had called them, apparently. When we pulled up into the station, those squad cars just had to turn around. O'Hanahan's men had no chance, really, they were completely surrounded."

"Brilliant," I laughed, "Sounds like the police actually came through for us this time."

"There's a first time for everything," responded Rob, laughing with me.

"What's so funny?" demanded a female voice, from the doorway.

I looked up into the furious face of my mother and was unable to stifle a groan. Because, seriously, she doesn't half know how to time things. Rob and I had just been sharing a perfect, couple moment – because we actually were a couple, Goddammit – when she had to come in and shatter it.

"A joke," I replied, slightly defensively.

"I see nothing to laugh about," said my mom, "You've just been shot and narrowly escaped with your life. I don't really see a reason to laugh." She turned on Rob. "Do you think my daughter being shot is a cause for laughter? Just another funny stunt, you're lucky didn't go wrong?"

"No, ma'am," said Rob, firmly, and slightly taken aback, "I definitely do not."

"Mom!" I exclaimed, sitting bolt upright, completely horrified by her outburst, "Leave him alone! It's not his fault."

"Isn't it?" asked my mom, coldly, one eye on me, the other on Rob, "You know, ever since you started hanging around this young man, your life has become more and more dangerous. We seem to be visiting police stations and hospitals on an almost regular basis and it has got to stop."

"Actually, mom,"I replied, furious, "I've been staying _alive_ ever since I met him. The same things would've happened, but I would have been more injured or more dead.. The police and the hospitals are down to the psychic thing, not Rob."

"He's been encouraging you!" she exclaimed, while I felt Rob's hand tighten a little around mine, "Causing you to go off on all these hare-brained schemes and get yourself in danger."

"He's not!" I was well aware that I was shouting – and in a hospital, no less – but I was so angry I really didn't care. "Mom, you should be _thanking_ him. He tries to stop me doing all the stuff, but when he sees he can't, he comes along to protect me. He saves my life. He saved Doug's life. I don't see why you should be mad at him for saving your kids' lives!"

"That's enough lip from you," my mom warned, "We can continue this later, when you are better and in your right mind." She turned to Rob again, "I would like you to leave now."

I gripped Rob's hand, preventing him from moving and glared at my mother.

"I want to him stay."

"And I am telling him to leave. Mr Wilkins, please leave now. I don't want you around my daughter any more."

"With all due respect, ma'am," spoke Rob, surprising even me, "your daughter has asked me to stay."

"So I heard," said my mom, clearly a little bit startled, "but she is young and rather unwell, so, as her mother, I'm going to have to overrule her."

"No," I stated, firmly, hardly able to believe that we were actually having this argument, "Mom, you can't make him go anywhere. Like it or not, I love him and I'm not going to let you ruin this just because you can't deal with the fact that he's not from the same background as us."

"What do you mean "_background_"?" spluttered my mom, "This is entirely about your safety."

"Really?" I asked, sarcastically, "You could have fooled me. I don't care what you say. I love him."

Suddenly, Rob moved from the chair to sit right on my bed, right by my side. "And I love your daughter, ma'am," he said, calmly, "Very much."

Breathlessly, I watched as my mom scowled at the two of us. I saw her gaze fix on the way both of Rob's hands were now covering one of mine. She narrowed her eyes, before sighing heavily – and I swear, I saw her expression soften. Just a little.

"Jessica," she said, slightly more quietly, "we'll discuss this later." And without another word, she left the hospital room.

I heaved a huge sigh and kind of sunk back against Rob. I stayed that way for a few minutes, just recovering from the scene with my mom. I figured she was just way upset about the whole me-nearly-dying thing, but still. The force of her anger had been seriously surprising. But – and I was hardly going to start making bets, or anything – but I think she was coming round to the idea by the end. Maybe.

"Thanks," I said, eventually, simply staring into the distance.

"What for?" asked Rob, idly stroking my hair, which was making it way hard to focus, let me tell you.

"Well, I'm obviously grateful for the whole saving my life part, but for now, I mainly meant sweet talking my mom. Thanks."

"I was hardly sweet talking her."

"Well, you know what I mean. Appeasing her."

"Mastriani, I wasn't _appeasing_ her. I meant it, stupid."

"Meant what?" I asked, innocently, feigning ignorance and turning to him, "What was it you said?"

Rob gave me his half-disgusted, half-amused look. I merely continued looking at him in what I hoped was a perfectly innocent way.

Eventually, he leaned forward and, after planting a kiss on my ear, whispered, "I love you." He then moved round and proceeded to kiss me on the lips, very thoroughly.

However, when we came up for air, I was pouting. "You missed out the 'very much' part," I complained, "that wasn't exactly what-"

But Rob remembered the most effective way of shutting me up and started kissing me again. Quite clearly demonstrating the "very much" part, only without words. And, hey, I wasn't about to complain. Then, just when my brain had stopped functioning, Rob suddenly pulled away and, grinning, announced, "Very much."

I was exhausted, so I just kind of collapsed against him, still grinning this goofy smile. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to contain it, either, because I was so damn happy. Everyone was safe and well, Sean and his mom were finally free of their dad and Rob loved me. Very much. Happiness like that is definitely worth goofy grins.

"Well," I said, when I'd finally regained the power of speech, "If I'd known getting shot would provoke that reaction from you I would have done it ages ago."

"Don't even think about getting shot again," warned Rob, oddly reminding me of my dad, "Cos I'm buying you a bullet proof vest for your birthday."

"Aw, you're so thoughtful," I grinned, leaning in for yet another kiss...

Sadly, however, we were interrupted again.

"Aw, man, do we always have to come in at _that_ moment?" complained a very familiar voice, as Rob and I rapidly broke apart.

I didn't mind so much, though, when I saw who, exactly, was interrupting us.

"Doug!" I screeched, beckoning him over, "Doug!"

As soon as he was close enough,I enveloped him in a major bearhug. He hugged me back, but seemed ever so slightly embarrassed. Can't imagine why.

"Mind the ribs!" he gasped, when I got a little too keen on squeezing.

"Oh, sorry," I apologized, releasing him, "I got a bit carried away. It's just so exciting to see you alive."

"Yeah, thanks," he muttered, withdrawing to stand next to Tasha, "You too."

I narrowed my eyes slightly and began to examine him. There was a bandage around the top part of his right temple and quite obvious bruising around his left eye. I swallowed heavily and began to feel incredibly guilty.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered, "About everything."

"Not your fault," replied Doug, dismissing it all, "Just good to have you back with us."

I stared at him some more, wondering just how badly the whole experience had affected him. But it was hardly the time to go bringing up the issue of Episodes. I would have a lot of time to deal with that later.

"Tasha,"I said, remembering that she was actually there, "Rob told me you called the cops. Thanks. I think it's safe to say that you saved my life."

"It was nothing," she smiled, bashfully, "I'm kind of catching on to how you work, now. After your weird phone call, and then the sight of you sprinting out of the house, I kind of realised something was going on."

"Well, thanks," I said, at a loss for what else to say.

"We kind of owed you one," she said, simply.

I was worried that we were going to descend into an awkward silence, what with her having indirectly brought up Nate and all, but Doug saved the day. Yes, Doug, my brother, saved a social situation from growing awkward. I guess wonders never cease.

"Anyway," he said, "don't get too comfortable, Jess. We met mom and dad in the hallway, and they said the doctors would be along shortly to let you know when you could be discharged."

"God, I hope it's soon."

"It will be. Though you will have to take things easy once you get home."

I scowled, "I'm going to get so bored." though secretly, I quite liked the idea of not having to do anything for a while. You know, just this once.

"You've got loads of people to keep you company," smiled Rob, "We'll make sure you don't get bored."

"I hope that's a promise," I declared, turning to him.

"Of course," he answered, tapping my hand, "And before I forget, Ruth says hi – she had to go off for something. School, maybe... But she expects you to tell her Everything, when you get back. Everything, with a capital E. She said that bit was important."

"Right, message received," I replied, grinning, as I contemplated relating the entire story to Ruth. She was going to freak out.

"Now,"continued Rob, "I better disappear. If your mom's coming back, I think it'd be better if I wasn't around. I would offer you a ride home, but I'm not sure that's the best idea, given the current situation..."

"Don't go," I implored, smiling at him as sweetly as I could, "I might need your help getting to the car."

Rob gave me a bonafide half-amused, half-disgusted grin and resigned himself to stay. "Alright," he agreed, "But if your mom murders me, on your head be it..."

"I'm not here to murder anyone," announced my mom, closely followed by my dad, "I'm here to tell Jessica that we can take her home now. You've been given the all-clear, provided you only rest."

"That could be difficult," said my dad, mock-thoughtfully, "We may have to put her under house-arrest."

I was just beginning to smile when my mom responded with, "Don't be silly. I'll be looking after her."

I gulped. It looked like I was going to be put on house-arrest, after all. "You better keep that promise of making sure I don't get bored," I muttered to Rob, warningly. There was no way I was going to let this chance of a rest be turned into an imprisonment. Doing a good deed had gotten me into this state. It didn't seem fair that I was going to be punished for it. Rob, however, merely smiled at me. A heartbreakingly beautiful smile, yes, but it didn't exactly answer my question. I decided I'd just have to trust him. I mean, he did love me, after all...

"Alright," I said, grinning at my mom and dad. "Just get me out of here so everything can go back to normal. Well," I added - glancing from the heavily bandaged Doug, to the uncomfortable-looking Rob, then to my clearly determined mother - "As normal as things can get around here..."

* * *

**Hee hee. I believe that is the last ever chapter. There may or may not be a short(ish) epilogue to round things off, but here ends the main story. I can hardly believe it... I really think you should mark this momentous occasion with a review, don't you...?**


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